이옥자(제닛리)님에 대해서는 많은 분들이 아실 것이다. 세인트루이스에서 가발 가게를 하며 혼자서 1남 2녀를 기르며 힘들게 살다, 1997년 하루아침에 큰돈(1800만불)이 하늘에서 떨어져 유명인이 된 분이다. 클린턴 대통령, 카나한 미주리주지사, 게파트 하원 민주당 원내총무와 같은 거물 정치인들과도 어깨를 나란히 할 정도로 신분이 급상승했었다. 한인회장, 평통위원도 역임했다. 돈의 엄청난 위력을 보여준 그의 행보는 당시 세간의 부러움과 또한 질시의 대상이 되기도 했다.

복권 당첨 후 8년 만에 그 많은 돈을 탕진하고 말았다. 그리고 정부 보조 임대아파트에서 영세민 보조금을 받으며 고독과 노구와 싸우다 지난 3월, 80세의 일기로 세상을 떠났다. 그의 주검은 가족을 기다렸지만, 아무도 나타나지도 않았다. 장례 문제 등으로 두 달이 지난 뒤에야 전·현직 한인회장들이 나서서 비용을 갹출, 한인노인단체 몇몇 회원들만이 참여한 가운데, 공동묘지(Bellerive Garden) 납골탑에 간신이 안장됐다.

내가 그를 처음 만난 때가 아마 그가 복권을 탄 2-3년 직후였을 거다. 그가 이곳 워싱턴대학교 법과대학에 150만불을 기부했다는 소식이 널리 알려져 있었고, 우리 한인사회에서도 은근히 그의 도움을 기대하고 있었던 터였다. 그런데 어느 날 갑자기 그가 내 사무실에 나타났다. 한국 여성 월간지 두어 권을 손에 들고 있었는데, 자리에 앉자마자 다짜고짜 자신의 얘기부터 털어놓았다.

“내가 복권을 타고 제일 먼저 한 일은 내가 기른 1남 2녀의 생모(生母)를 찾아주는 것이었다. 다행히 찾았다. 이 얘기가 여기 잡지들(여성동아, 여원?)에 실려있다. 당신이 발행하는 <한겨레저널>에도 게재해 주었으면 좋겠다.” 그는 이렇게 말하면서 아이들에 대해 얘기했다. 결혼 첫날밤을 지낸 다음 날 아침, 시어머니가 하신 말씀이 “너의 남편에게 아이들 셋이 있다. 이것도 너의 운명이니 받아들여라”는 청천벼락이었다고 한다. “총각인 줄 알았는데 아이가 셋이라니….” 기가 막혔지만, 결국 받아들였다며, 평생 자신은 아이를 낳지 않고 남편 아이 3남매만을 길렀다고 덧붙였다.

워싱턴대 150만불 기부의 실제 동기도 그가 기른 딸 하나를 입학시키기 위한 것이었다. 기여입학을 한 그 딸은 졸업 후 변호사가 됐다. 그밖에 알려진 기행(奇行)과 선행이 수없이 많다. 8년간의 화려했던 삶은 다른 유명인사들처럼 수많은 화제를 뿌렸고, 찬사와 악담도 뒤따랐으며 공과 과에 대한 평가가 사람들 사이에 극명하게 갈렸다.

납골탑 안장식에서 고인에 대한 회고담을 참석자들끼리 나누었다. “내가 가까이 본 고인은 아주 착한 분이었다. 눈물도 많았다. 우리는 고인이 살면서 행했던 자선(慈善)만은 그게 진심이든 가식이든 최소한 기억할 필요가 있다. 결과적으로 도움이 됐다면 말이다. 부정적인 면만 얘기한다면 우리 가운데 그 어느 누가 이에 자유로울 사람이 있겠는가. 고인이 살면서 행했던 선한 일들을 기억하고, 감사하며, 우리의 삶을 그런 선행으로 채워가는 일이 중요하다.”

돈을 가졌다고 선한 일을 하는 것은 아니다. “내가 복권을 탄다면”하고 너그러운 삶을 그려보기도 한다. 하지만 현실은 그림처럼 예쁘게만 그려지지 않는다. 욕심 덩어리 인간이기에 그렇다. 식욕, 색욕, 물욕, 명예욕, 권력욕··· 끝도 갓도 없는 욕심, 욕심이 욕심을 낳고 욕심 때문에 결국 그림은 엉망이 되고 만다. 이게 보통 인간들의 실제 모습이다. 다만 욕심과 욕심의 징검다리를 건너면서도 타인과 그 욕심의 부스러기라도 나누려는 착한 마음은 귀중하다. 인간을 사랑하시는 신(神)이 계신다면, 아마도 그런 측은지심을 보시고, 최소한 연민의 은총을 내리실 거라 나는 믿는다.

워싱턴대학교는 법과대학 도서관에 이옥자님의 초상화를 여전히 걸어놓고 그를 기리고 있다. 고 이옥자님의 명복을 빈다.

For eight years, Janite Lee lived the good life. She moved into a gated community in Town and Country. She dined with world leaders. She had a reading room at Washington University’s law school named for her. But by July, the $18 million lottery winner had run through it all. Lee filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Until she files documents related to her finances, it is unclear exactly how she fell into insolvency. Interviews, court filings and federal records show that Lee was generous to a variety of causes, particularly politics, education and the community. “As you know, anybody who wins the lottery, everyone comes to them,” said Kay-Song Lee, editor of the Korean-American Journal in St. Louis. Kay-Song Lee is a friend of Janite Lee’s and is not related to her. Rochelle Stanton, an attorney representing Lee in the bankruptcy, declined to discuss the matter in detail. Lee, who is single and 60, was not available for comment. In the bankruptcy filing, Lee listed $1.8 million in assets and $2.5 million in liabilities. As of July 5, she claimed to have $700 left in two bank accounts, according to court filings. She had no cash on hand. Her eight-year journey began on a Saturday in early February 1993. Back then, Lee, who immigrated to the United States from South Korea with her husband and three stepchildren in 1972, was operating a wig shop in downtown St. Louis, according to Kay-Song Lee. She had raised her children on her own after earlier divorcing her husband, said Kay-Song Lee. On that day eight years ago, Lee’s cousin drove her to the Route 3 Gift Shop and Lottery in Sauget, just across the Missouri-Illinois state line, to buy only her second ticket for the Illinois Lottery. Lee, then 52, found out the next day that she had won $18 million. She took her winnings in 20 annual installments of $620,000, after taxes. She soon bought a house in a gated neighborhood in Town and Country, paying $1.2 million. Among her dreams was to build a nondenominational church in the St. Louis area, she told the Post-Dispatch in 1993. Giving to Washington U.Across from the entrance to Washington University’s School of Law library hangs a painting of Janite Lee dressed in a white hanbok, a traditional Korean dress. To the right is the Janite Lee Reading Room, which the university describes as built in the style of the English Inns of Court. Mahogany beams line the ceiling, and shelves are stacked with tomes of reference material. “The perfect place for quiet study and contemplation,” the university boasts on its Web site. Washington University declined to say how much or when Lee donated to the law school. Kay-Song Lee said Lee told him she donated $1.5 million. The donations to the university didn’t end there. In 1999, Lee, who had a stepdaughter who graduated from Washington University, made the Parents’ Honor Roll as a Life Eliot Benefactor. To attain this title, Lee would have contributed $500,000 to $1 million. “Janite Lee has been a very supportive member of our community,” said Joel Seligman, dean of Washington University’s School of Law, in a statement. “We are proud that her daughter is a graduate of the school, and her expressions of appreciation reflect well upon her and the school.” Cash aplenty to DemocratsHer generosity wasn’t limited to Washington University. Lee skyrocketed into political prominence in 1997, when she sought to be the luncheon chairwoman for a local fund-raising event for President Bill Clinton. She backed up that request with campaign checks for $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee. Lee sat next to Clinton at that luncheon. Her generosity soon touched off a stampede among prominent Missouri Democrats seeking campaign donations. All told, she donated $277,000 to various candidates over the next three years. That included $2,000 to Hillary Clinton’s successful New York bid for the U.S. Senate last year. The largest chunk – $84,000 – went to Rep. Richard A. Gephardt’s various campaign committees. Another $10,000 went to various committees tied to Attorney General Jay Nixon’s unsuccessful 1998 bid for the U.S. Senate. At Nixon’s November 1997 fund-raiser, Lee sat next to Clinton again. In October 1998, she sat next to Vice President Al Gore when he held a fund-raising dinner here. Area Democratic activists said they were introduced to Lee through Clinton’s campaign aides. Other than her money, none of those activists claimed to know much about her. In 1997, Lee ranked 31st on a list of the top soft money donors to the Democratic National Party Committee, according to Common Cause, a citizens lobbying organization. That put her a notch below the Boeing Co. In 1998, she was ranked in the top three of individual political donors in Missouri for that year. Between these events, Lee attended a state dinner at the White House for South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung. Accompanying Lee was her stepdaughter, who now practices law in Chicago. Aiding the poor, churchThe St. Louis community also benefited from her generosity, and Lee maintained a high profile among Korean-Americans in St. Louis. She held lunches for the homeless in Forest Park, said Kay-Song Lee. She supported a local association for families that adopted Korean children. She also contributed heavily to her church, according to several Korean-Americans here. And when a pastor at a local Korean church died unexpectedly, she gave $30,000 to his family. She also paid for the funeral expenses, Kay-Song Lee said. In 1999, Lee was president of St. Louis’ Korean American Association and bought a house in North County to use as a private club for the group. She never completed the renovations by the time her one-year term was up, and she eventually sold the house, according to Kay-Song Lee. Sold right to winningsIt is unclear when Lee’s finances took a tailspin, but several factors could have led to her bankruptcy. She incurred a $750,000 penalty for prepaying a loan; the amount is currently in dispute. Details of when and what she prepaid are unclear. Lee also sold the right to her winnings for a lump sum, which she did not disclose. But court filings show that she collected nearly $5 million from lottery winnings in the last two years. It was used to pay off debt and mortgages, the filings said. An investment in a restaurant, the Bombay Bicycle Club in Hazelwood, also turned sour. She had put money into the property on the suggestion of a person who acted as an adviser, said Stanton, Lee’s attorney. “It was a bad investment,” Stanton said. Lee sold the property in September of last year. Gambling and credit card debt also cost her a bundle. Last year alone, Lee lost nearly $347,000 at several casinos in the St. Louis area, according to court filings. She racked up about $37,000 charged to several credit cards. This February, she took a second loan from Royal Banks of Missouri, for $200,000, according to court documents; she borrowed $1.4 million from the bank in 1997. But she also leased a 2000 Mercedes Benz E-class auto in April, handing over $800 in her first payment. She then missed her bank loan payments in May and her car payments in June. Lee filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy a month later.