Chong Seong Lee, of Manhasset, built laundromat chain with wife, dies at 71

Chong Seong Lee upheld family honor as eldest son and headed the family construction businesses before emigrating from South Korea to build a laundromat chain with his wife, relatives said.

He valued heritage, they said. He presided over the Korean tradition of Jesa, which honors parents and ancestors with special food and bowing at midnight on the anniversaries of their death. The sixth of eight children — all girls before him — he supported his two young brothers after their parents died. He made sure his own children didn’t forget the Korean holidays, waking them up as early as 5 a.m.

"He took his job as eldest son very seriously," said his daughter Alison Powell, of Los Angeles. "He loved it. It was his birthright, and it was one of his greatest responsibilities."

Lee, of Manhasset, died of cancer Nov. 8. He was 71.

The son of a prominent family in Mokpo, a port city in southwest South Korea, Lee expanded his father’s construction business from commercial buildings to apartments, anticipating the trend of people moving into cities.

But what he really wanted from a young age was to be a singer, a dream he abandoned because it was not an acceptable career for someone of his background, relatives said.

Still, Lee kept music alive all his life, from singing to listening and donating to street musicians, Powell recalled. Long before karaoke was popular in the United States, he put in a karaoke system at his Manhasset home, she said. His favorites were the classic Korean and Japanese artists from the 1950s and crooners like Paul Anka, his family recalled.

"It was like he came to life," Powell said of her father’s singing. "His stage presence and his voice were truly like God-given gifts. You have on the outside a very stoic, some would describe a shy man. When you saw this other side of him, it was like watching two people."

She said she will never forget the time she was playing the piano at age 8 or so and her father was so moved that he uncharacteristically gave her a big kiss: "He had a really warm heart, and if you knew him, you knew that there was so much emotion and care, even if he wasn’t able to express it."

Men of his generation were taught not to show emotions, said his wife, Seon Jeong Park, of Manhasset, so his stoic demeanor hid the challenges he faced in when he emigrated in 1997. He came because he believed the U.S. education system was better for their children, she said.

Lee and Park had known each other growing up in their hometown of Mokpo, and after they married, she emigrated in 1991 and started the coin-operated Super Clean Laundromat in Passaic, New Jersey.

When Lee arrived, Park said, he learned English in night classes while working with her to expand their laundromat business into New York City as a full-service, 24-hour operation. The chain eventually had eight locations, each with as many as 150 machines, she said.

They also bought small apartment buildings and homes in New York City and Long Island, the family said.

Family and friends remember him as a "gentle, generous soul" to friends and strangers.

"I think the love of his parents and older sisters gave him the strength to not just ignore the neglected and disadvantaged," said John Yoon, a longtime friend. "He knew how to give."

Besides his wife and daughter, he is survived by his children Gina Lee, of Washington, D.C., and Edward Lee, of Manhasset; sisters, Bong-sun Lee, of Gwangju, South Korea, and Seungja Lee and Jonggeum Lee, both of Seoul; and brothers, Jongbae Lee, of Mokpo, and Jongho Lee, of Miami.

A wake and short Mass was held Nov. 12 at Fairchild Sons Funeral Home in Manhasset, followed by a funeral service Nov. 13 at the Holy Name of Jesus Church in Woodbury. He was interred at St. Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale.