Hi Ja Madeleine (Lee) Choi, 79, of Mequon, Wisconsin, passed away on October 21, 2025 at her beloved family home. A memorial service will be held at Schmidt & Bartelt Funeral & Cremation Services in Mequon on October 25, 2025 at noon. 

Born in Pyongyang, Korea on December 25, 1945, Hi Ja graduated from Sacred Heart University in Korea with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. She then studied abroad for one year in Japan before immigrating to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin to study fashion design at Mount Mary College in 1970. She studied there for two years, met and married Mathias Boo Bok Choi in Milwaukee and gave birth to three healthy sons. A decade later, Hi Ja returned to Mount Mary College to complete her fashion design degree and in her junior year won the Golden Scissors Award, the top prize at a prestigious Midwest student fashion design competition for her beautifully crafted women’s business coat. She later worked for a decade in fashion design at Junior House or JH Collectibles, a national fashion house headquartered in Milwaukee in the 1980’s. 

Hi Ja successfully raised three sons while making a stylish, beautiful home full of delicious food, warmth and family love. She has been a dedicated and active member of the Korean Catholic Community as a long time lector, reading the First Reading as recently as two weeks ago at a special Mass celebrating the Korean Thanksgiving holiday, Chuseok. 

Hi Ja is survived by her husband, Mathias Boo Bok Choi, her sons, Mao Choi, Mino Choi and Juno Choi, her brother Hee Nam Lee and her granddaughter Jia Choi. 

Hi Ja will be remembered as a wonderful and loving mother, wife, sister and daughter. A woman of impeccable taste and style, a fashionista, an amazing cook and dinner party host, a trusted friend and mentor, a vital member of the Korean Catholic Community and the heart and soul of the Choi Family. 

Friends and Family are invited to Schmidt & Bartelt Funeral & Cremation Services in Mequon on Saturday October 25, 2025 at noon. Doors open at 11:00 a.m. For more information, please visit the Schmidt & Bartelt website.