Yea Hong Chang

Yea Hong Chang peacefully passed on Thursday, January 4, 2024 at AgeCare Seton.

Yea Hong was born March 21, 1929 and raised in Battambang, Cambodia as one of eleven children.  She was a mother of four children and raised three sons Qong Chheung Sea, Chean Ming Sea and Chean Hoa Sea (deceased). In Battambang, she sold food at the Phsar Thom, now renamed Phsar Nath Market (Battambang Central Market).

Yea Hong endured many adversities in her lifetime and was a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide which occurred in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.  In 1980, she immigrated as a refugee to Canada and lived in McBride, British Columbia for four years until moving to Calgary, Alberta where she lived for more than 40 years. 

Yea Hong was a devout Buddhist who supported the Indo Chinese Buddhist Association for many years and was respected in her community.  She was a fiercely independent and vocal woman who travelled extensively to China and Cambodia well into her 80s. Yea Hong even navigated the Calgary Transit system on her own, without speaking much English.  She was fluent in many languages including Khmer, Teo Chew, Cantonese and Vietnamese.  She enjoyed playing cards and socializing with friends at the temple, on trips and at the casino.  You would often find her enjoying a bowl of noodles with her daughter-in-law Y Chou at various restaurants in Chinatown and on International Avenue including Forbidden City, Sun's BBQ or Pho Binh Minh.

Yea Hong supported Ming and Y Chou in raising their three daughters Susan, Lynda and Jessica and would take care of the girls while their parents worked multiple jobs.  This included babysitting, walking them to school, taking them to the temple or Chinatown, feeding them lunches, playing card games and teaching them Chinese checkers. Yea Hong also had an affinity for animals. Most mornings she would feed the birds outside their Penbrooke house, and she also took care of Mocha, their family dog.  She had a discerning palate and enjoyed traditional Khmer and Chinese foods and ate Ataulfo mangoes almost daily.  

Yea Hong will be remembered for her strong, tenacious spirit, her countless stories and impeccable memory.  She had many friends and associates and led a more active social life than her grand-daughters at times. 

In Canada, Yea Hong leaves behind her son Ming, daughter-in-law Y Chou, granddaughters Susan Sea, Jessica Sea and Lynda Sea, great-grand-children Logan Collins, Autumn Collins and Summer Collins and grandsons-in-law Jeff Collins and David Nguyen.  In China, she is survived by her son Qong Chheung Sea and daughter-in-law Chheng Siv Ping, grandson Sea Fang and granddaughter-in-law Chang Fen and great-grand-children Sen Chean and Ee Chean. We will miss her dearly. 

Relatives and friends are invited to a time of visitation from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 11, 2024 at Pierson's Funeral Services Ltd., 4121 - 17 Avenue SE, Calgary, Alberta.  Funeral will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, January 12, 2024 from Pierson's Funeral Services Ltd.  Interment will follow at Mountain View Memorial Gardens.