Somvang Vongphrachanh

Somvang Vongphrachanh was born on July 9, 1945, in Vientiane, Laos. In 1980, he made a difficult but smart decision to cross the Mekong river into Thailand as refugees during the Vietnam War. He took a gamble on the lives of 4 children and wife, Phimphone Songtongphete, along with another family crossing the Mekong in the dead of night while dodging bullets and hiding out among the tall grasses as they made their way to shore.

The small family of 4 quickly grew to 7 during their time in America as asylum- seekers where all 4 children and both parents became permanent United States Citizens. Somvang Vongphrachanh was trained as an Aircraft Mechanic/Technician in his native country of Laos and had to quickly secure a job to support 7 hungry mouths in Texas. He landed a position as an Aircraft Technician/Maintenance with Hobby Airport in 1985 and retired after 35 years from Service Corporation International (SCI) a subsidiary of Hobby Airport in 2020.

Somvang Vongphrachanh along with his wife Phimphone Vongphrachanh attended services at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses in Houston, TX beginning in 2015 but stopped attending shortly after his health began failing in 2020. Somvang was a simple man who enjoyed the fellowship of various groups of people from different nationalities and creeds and loved to eat and laugh with his immediate family.

Somvang Vongphrachanh passed away unexpectedly on August 18, 2022 but is survived by wife, Phimphone and 7 children Phoutsavath, Vathsana, Sayo, Kayrath, Chanthabone, Manisone, & Kaynarath their ages range from 35 – 55 years old and a beloved dog named “Yellow.” No grandchildren to date. Somvang will be remembered as a loving and courageous father who worked tirelessly to support a large family despite the many challenges he faced in a foreign land that he grew to love.