I flew KE on an F award earlier this year. JFK-ICN was on a 744 with the sleeper seats- they are just like AF F (incl. the crappy IFE). Food is pleniful and service is friendly. Wines are nice (DP for champagne; Robert Mondavi Cabernet, etc.) Overall I had an extremely pleasant trip on KE and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
That said, on my flight beyond ICN, I was aware (through this board!!!) of the 3 class = 2 class service. I called KE once prior to my trip to straighten it out and it was plainly clear the phone rep did not have the juice to make things right. When I got to JFK, I was extremely polite at the F counter, faced some resistance at first, but then made it perfectly clear that I knew there were F seats (rows 1 and 2 on the 777) and that if someone had to sit in those seats, why not me!? Got a little more resistance before mentioning that I was quite early for the flight (2hrs) and would be delighted to wait to speak with whoever I would need to speak with to make things right. At that point, said she would take care of it and sent me to the lounge. Twenty minutes later, the same agent arrived in the lounge with new boarding passes. I had zero issue with this on the return.
My point is that one needs to be very polite, but very firm at the same time. It appeared to me that there is a lot more hierarchy involved at KE than we are used to at US airlines (hard to imagine, I know...)
Nonetheless, note that the service is identical on those flights with the F as J cabin, but the seat is 1000% better than what KE J looked like (identical to the old DL int'l F seats).
Enjoy your trip. Have lots of macademia nuts in F! Sorry to hear of you loss.