Sy Vang is the first born daughter of Pang Ge Vang and Ma Lor Vang, born on January 01, 1977 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She is the fourth child of six children and lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Visalia, California, Sacramento, California and San Francisco, California. She was 43 years old when she took her final breath and was called home on November, 4th 2020 due to complications from ovarian cancer. She fought bravely, even when she was in pain, she sought effortlessly to get better, staying positive and strived forward. Autonomy, independence, and mobility were most important to her as she lived every moment seizing the day. Her carefree spirit was bigger than cultural or social expectations, breaking generational curses and forging her own path through the patriarchal practice in her surroundings. Sy is preceded in death by her parents, Ma Lor Vang, who passed away on October 05th, 2008 and her father, Pang Ge Vang, who passed away on January 25th, 2020.
As a single mother, she is survived by her son Nathan Cha. And although she worked hard to provide everything for her son, she worked even harder to take on the role as mom and dad for Nathan. She was the kind of mom who would display her son’s cutest drawings and achievements on the refrigerator door and mantle. Sy is also survived by her five siblings: Kou Vang, Neng Vang, Frederick Vang, Nhia Vang and Wendy MaiKia Vang. And as an aunt, she had a profound girl-power love for her nieces: Elisabeth Vang, Ashley Vang, Kamimila Vang, Savahna Vang, and Vatsana Yang. Also, she is forever remembered as the cool aunty by her nephews: Blong Vang, David Vang, Lo Vang and Suvichai Yang.
In her younger years she attended Houston Elementary School and Willow Glen Elementary School in Visalia, California. From there she attended Green Acres Middle School and Redwood High School in Visalia. She graduated from Las Flores High School in Sacramento and went on to obtain her Associates of Arts degree in Legal Office Administration. With over 20 years of legal office experience, her loved ones watched her thrive vibrantly to a Senior Paralegal in her career. From home to work, she was always known to wear her heart on her sleeve, from coordinating food drives for San Francisco Food Bank, working with St. Francis Church and leading company fundraisers to sponsor needy families during the holidays. She was unafraid to show her love and compassion.
In 2015 she took a hiatus from her regular routine and decided to travel the world. In her journal she wrote down, that having trekked to Everest Base Camp (at 17,600 ft.) as well as, Throng La Pass (the highest pass in the world at 17,769 ft.), that those were one of her proudest moments in life. During her global adventures of travelling, Sy also stopped and worked with refugees in Malaysia. She worked with local refugee coordinators in Kuala Lumpur and provided assistance to Palestinian refugees. She helped assess their English and education level and also tutored stateless Chin refugee children from Myanmar. Besides her love for traveling the world and the vast beauty she had set out to see, Sy had a tremendous amount of love for everyone. The pictures displayed in her home are smiles and laughing moments that reveal her love and appreciation for family, friends who she has known all her life, to all the friends she made along the way, and refugee children she helped along the way. Valuing every moment in time, Sy marked this timeline brightly, with colors of love and laughter.
