Helen Hea Sook Paik Sunoo

It is with great sadness to announce that Helen Hea Sook Paik Sunoo of Akron, Ohio, received God’s call home and quietly passed away on July 30, 2026, at the age of 85, leaving to mourn family and friends.

Helen was born on October 15, 1940, in Sinuiju, Korea, and was the fifth child of Dr. Haeng-Geun Paik of Severance Medical School and Young-Sil Lee.

She attended Jinmyeong Girls’ Middle School and High School. Coming from a family who valued women’s education, she continued her studies at Ewha Womans* University College of Medicine, a pioneering institute established for the education and healthcare of Korean women by the first female missionary to Korea. Upon graduating with a Medical Degree in 1965, Helen received one of the first professional invitations from the United States to continue her clinical internship followed by further training in Internal Medicine at Worcester City Hospital in Massachusetts.

On October 21, 1967, she married Edward S. Sunoo, an Internal Medicine resident and afterwards an Anesthesiology resident at Huron Road Hospital in Cleveland. Helen also completed her residency in Anesthesiology at Huron Road Hospital before moving to Akron to become a full-time mother. She was licensed to practice medicine in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Helen was one of the founding members of the Korean Central Presbyterian Church of Cleveland who faithfully served her community as a deacon and kwonsa and proudly sang in the choir for over 30 years. She tended to others both near and far, whether in cooking to feed her church, family, and friends or in traveling to the Yucatán Peninsula for medical missions. She was also a recreational skier and golfer with a creative soul that pursued beautiful endeavors like painting, cake decorating, and professional floral design.

Her memory may have failed her in her final years, but she knew that she could always rely on her loving and devoted husband of 58 years who took care of her and remained by her side until the end.

Helen is survived by her beloved family: husband Edward; children Jane, Laura (Isaac) Choi, and Ben (Jenny); grandchildren, Elliot and Lydia Choi; brothers David Paik, Doug Paik, and Jack Paik; and many nieces and nephews and their families.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother in childhood, her brother Ju Han Paik, and her sister Ann Kim.

As a cherished wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, Helen will be dearly missed on this side of heaven, and her passing leaves a huge void in our lives. Yet our aching hearts trust the promise in Revelation 21:4 that the former things of pain and suffering will pass and that she is rejoicing to hear her Savior Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter my joy and rest.”

The funeral service will be at 7:00 PM Friday, August 7, 2026, at Billow’s Funeral Home Fairlawn Chapel, 85 N Miller Road, Akron, OH 44333.

A private burial will be held at a later date for family in Philadelphia Memorial Park, Frazer, PA.

The family kindly requests that no flowers or gifts be sent. Thank you for your understanding and support during this time.

* Ewha uses their original English name, deliberately contradicting English grammar rules, to reflect the institution’s historical, cultural, philosophical, and symbolic values that recognize and respect each woman as an individual making unique contributions in the world.

Services in care of the Billow Funeral Homes and Crematory, 85 N. Miller Road Akron, OH 44333.

(Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)