Barbara Reynolds Pak's Obituary
Barbara Reynolds Pak, 94, of Carlisle died Monday, June 15, 2026, at EverTrue Cumberland Crossings, the retirement community where she had lived since 2007.
Born May 1, 1932, in Wilmington, Delaware, she had just recently celebrated her 94th birthday, choosing cookies over her usual ice cream for her celebration this year.
With her bachelor's degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College, and master's degrees in education from Goucher and Columbia Teachers College, she taught elementary education for several years in Delaware but realized her kind nature didn't allow her to be the disciplinarian the position required. With summers off, she traveled the world with teacher friends, documenting camping trips across Europe and the United States, and trips traversing India to Egypt, and Lebanon to Singapore, in hundreds upon hundreds of Kodachrome slides.
Her life of service to others shifted away from elementary students when she felt called to serve as a missionary. Assigned to Korea for a 'short term' in 1960, she spent four years there before returning to the States for three years. In 1967 she returned to Korea with the Board of Missions for the United Methodist Church for another five years. During that time, she reunited with Si Rae Pak, the man she would marry in 1969, even though that meant, under the policy at the time, she could no longer be employed by the Mission for having married a national of the country in which she was serving. But with no one else to serve as the Field Treasurer, she stayed on as a contract employee.
Not sure if they would be able to have children of their own, they adopted an Amerasian son, Jay, while in Korea in 1971, knowing that they could provide a life that sheltered him from the ostracism he might face otherwise. Returning to Dover, Delaware in 1972, God blessed them with another son, Gil. She was a loving mother, rearing her children with a calm temperance and modeling a strong faith.
Returning again to Korea in 1975, she remained there with her husband until retirement in 2000. A collective 34 years in Korea allowed her to watch Korea rebuild following the war, invest in the lives of young people and future clergymen and women, and to be part of the growth of the church such that Korea is now sending missionaries abroad. She loved Korea and its people, and she loved the Lord.
She also loved her family. She is now reunited with her husband, Si Rae, and their son, Jay, who preceded her in death, along with her brother Allan, sister-in-law Kaoru (Tanamachi) Reynolds, and parents Paul and Evelyn (Cooke) Reynolds. Surviving to miss and celebrate her are her son, Gil Pak and wife Amy, along with her grandchildren, Grace and Griffin, whom she loved dearly, and her sister and brother-in-law Ruth (Reynolds) and Robert Stober, as well as nieces and nephews both in the United States and Korea.
A memorial service will be held at Hoffman Funeral Home, 2020 W Trindle Rd, Carlisle, PA 17013, on Saturday, June 27, 2026, with the family receiving guests beginning at 2 p.m. and the service beginning at 3 p.m., which will be live-streamed for the convenience of family and friends across the world. Burial of her ashes, with those of her husband, will be held at the convenience of the family in the Reynolds family plot in St. Michaels, MD.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions either to the Cumberland Crossings Benevolent Care Fund in thanks for the wonderful care she received by the staff there, or to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
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