Paull Hobom Shin (Shin Hobom,

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 신호범; September 27, 1935 – April 12, 2021) was an American politician and educator who served as a member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...

, the first

Korean American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...

ever elected to the Washington State Legislature. Shin was a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, elected from the 21st Legislative District, in southwest

Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 75th-most populous ...

. Cities within the district include

Mukilteo Mukilteo ( ) is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located on the Puget Sound between Edmonds, Washington, Edmonds and Everett, Washington, Everett, approximately north of Seattle. The city had a population of 20,254 ...

and portions of Everett,

Edmonds Edmonds may refer to: * Edmonds (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the surname) * Edmonds, Washington, a city in Washington, US ** Edmonds station (Washington), a passenger train station in Washington, US * Edmonds station (SkyTr ...

, and

Lynnwood Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located north of Seattle and south of Everett, near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405. It is the four ...

. Senator Shin served on the Senate Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development and Trade & Economic Development Committees.

Early life and education

Shin was born in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in 1935. Orphaned at the age of four, he lived on the streets of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

begging for food until the outbreak of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

in 1950, at which point he became a houseboy to a group of

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

officers. In 1954, one of them, a dentist named Ray Paull, adopted Shin and took him home to

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Despite never having been educated in Korea, and knowing little English, Shin completed a

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

in 18 months. Shin went on to earn a BA in political science from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, an MPIA from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, and an MA and PhD from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Political career

After being elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1992, Shin ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in Washington's 2nd district in 1994 and for Washington lieutenant governor in 1996, losing by a narrow margin in each race. He was elected to the Washington State Senate in 1998. On January 7, 2014, Shin resigned from the Washington State Senate effective immediately following his diagnosis with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

Death

Shin died on April 12, 2021, in

Edmonds, Washington Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located no ...

, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Senator Shin's speech to 1999 KAAN Conference

Official State Legislature website
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100108115259/http://www.dil.aber.ac.uk/dils/Research/RFocus9/html_a_k.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011650/http://nwlink.com/~scpnwan/articles/06-20-98/shin.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Paull 1935 births 2021 deaths Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Brigham Young University alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni University of Washington alumni American politicians of Korean descent Asian-American people in Washington (state) politics American adoptees South Korean adoptees People with Alzheimer's disease People from Paju Geochang Shin clan