Koungsa Bisa Young

It is with great sadness that we report the sudden death of our dear Mom Koungsa Young (78), who passed away on April 20, 2021. Koungsa was born in Laos on May 10, 1942. There she began her sixty-year marriage to Sing. Koungsa, Sing and their seven children were forced to leave Laos in the aftermath of the Vietnam war.

After spending nearly two years in a refugee camp in Thailand, they were able to immigrate to the U.S. after being sponsored by a Catholic parish in Des Moines, Iowa.

From there they had brief stops in Phoenix and Los Angeles. They settled down away from big city life in Humboldt County and have lived here for the past 32 years.

Koungsa was a strong woman with a fierce spirit. She dealt with diabetes most of her life and was a three-time survivor of breast cancer. Her greatest joys were gardening, raising chickens and governing her family with an iron fist. She was a feisty woman with a strong voice and an even stronger heart.

Koungsa is survived by her husband Sing, six children, six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. She follows her daughter Genevieve (Lang) to heaven. They are finally united after all these years, and she is finally free of her body’s sickness and pain.

Although gone from this world, her spirit and legacy lives on through her remaining family. We will continue to honor her life of sacrifice and toil, and will always remember her unrelenting love and devotion.

You were the glue that held our family together and a Mom to us all. Your absence is deeply felt. We wish you a safe journey to heaven. You are now free of pain and worry. Thank you for living your extraordinary life with us for as long as you could. We’ll see you again someday. We love you very much, Mom.

Many thanks go to the Open Door Community Health and Wellness Center and their teams of angels. Special thanks to Dr. Ellen Taylor who took care of Koungsa for more that twenty years. Thanks to all the wonderful people at St. Joseph’s Hospital, including Dr. Fellow, the oncology team, the chemo and radiology teams and any other angel that helped prolong her life.