Even though she was busy running a business, Clara (Yoon) Ji, always made time for her friends.
Sunny Bang knew Clara Ji for seven years before the owner of the Hollister Laundromat was tragically murdered in December. They were a part of the same close-knit Korean community and would hold bible studies and celebrate birthdays together.
“Clara always reached out to people. She was always a go-go person. She didn’t like downtime. She was always doing stuff. We were always doing stuff together,” Bang said.
Ji was born in Cheonan, South Korea and later moved to the United States in 1999. In Korea, she worked as a nurse at a hospital for several years and after moving to Hollister she began working Miyakos restaurant as a waitress, befriending her coworkers and customers.
The mother-of-two who was first reported missing by her adult daughters, who live in southern California. She was a joyful friend and loved kids.
“She would invite people to the laundromat and say bring your kids,” Bang recalled.
A generous offer, when you have three active young boys, she added.
“Even with three boys jumping around she didn’t mind. She’d take them to the trampoline or we’d all go to the playground,” said Bang.
When the news broke in mid-December that Clara Ji was not just missing but murdered, and her husband the prime suspect, Bang and other local friends were left shocked and bereft.
Hollister resident, Gilbert Zuniga, who spoke at Clara Ji’s memorial service, got to know Clara Ji at the laundromat.
“She had a sweet spirit and was always welcoming. When I was gone from the laundromat, she’d ask me where I went and how I was. She was just a beautiful spirit,” said Zuniga. “There are certain people in this world you know are special and bring a joy and love to the world. The type of person who just being in their presence you feel better about yourself. That was the type of person she was and always will be.”
Hollister resident Joan Sattler first met Clara Ji at the laundromat and soon became close friends. Sattler remembers Clara making the laundromat a welcoming place – greeting people, making change for detergent, pinning hems – and always telling friends how proud she was of her own two daughters who live in Southern California. “Clara is beautiful, kind, gentle, effervescent, pixie-like, impish, funny, possessing incredible strength and tenacity and above all, loving,” said Sattler in an email. “The word ‘is’ is used by design as Clara will be forever frozen in time in our hearts, in our minds and in our memories.”
Lisa Ortiz used to work with Clara Ji at Miyako Restaurant. She remembers her old colleague as a person with a ready laugh who loved to talk.
“She asked me about my mom, sister and brother and she would make sure to hug every single person you loved. She would listen when you talked and even asked you about it the next day. It was always fun to work at Miyako’s because it was like family. She was fun. She was outgoing. She had a big heart,” said Ortiz. “She was a tiny girl, but when she hugged you it was fierce. We lost a great person and it gets me every time.”
Gavilan College Professor Bea Lawn, who was Clara Ji’s English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, posted one of many condolences on her obituary “Serena and Catharina: I cannot tell you of my sadness at Yoon’s passing, about which I just read today (Jan. 30, 2018). I didn’t see the news and had no idea. I was her teacher for several semesters and had just run into her in September or October. Yoon was a wonderful, luminous, and strong person who fought to give you both and herself a chance to have a better life and a good education. Words cannot describe my shock and sadness at her demise. I want to believe that even at the last moment of her life she was strong. My deep condolences,” she wrote.
Debi Mahler a neighbor of Clara Ji wrote, “Clara and I were neighbors beginning in the year 2000. My grandson became great friends with her daughters as they went to school together each day and played together after school. I have kept in touch with Clara ever since. To her daughters: please know your mother was a most wonderful person and will always be there with you throughout your life watching over you. You know how strong she was… You know she will watch over you no matter what it takes. I am so sorry for your loss, I am so sorry for your life being turned upside down in a most despicable manner. Many blessings…”
Now, Clara Ji’s friends are looking to help her college-aged daughters during this difficult time.
Bang set up a GoFund Me account at https://www.gofundme.com/52dxe0w to help Cat and Serena who live in southern California.
“My sister and I are thankful for the community for showing their love for our mom and for us,” said Clara Ji’s daughter, Serena Ji.
Bang said the funds raised would primarily go to pay for college expenses for Cat, who is in her last year of college, and unexpected bills that are accumulating. Since the father is under arrest and Clara Ji’s family lives in South Korea, the daughters are dealing with the aftermath on their own, said Bang.
Bang said she did not know about the children’s access to funds. Ji is currently being represented by a court-issued public defender.
“The girls come from having everything to having nothing,” said Bang, who said the girls have been left shocked and traumatized by the sudden loss of their mother and father’s subsequent arrest.
“As a mom I’m really saddened and we just want to make sure they are going to be okay,” she said.
To learn about the Ji girls’ GoFund Me campaign, CLICK HERE.
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