Phoua Thao Hang
She will forever be missed.
PHOUA THAO HANG
1952 - 2022
Remembering Phoua
This site was created in memory of Phoua Thao Hang. Our loving wife, mother and grandmother.
The Life of Phoua Thao Hang
Birth & Childhood
Sa Luong, Laos | 1952
Phoua Thao Hang was born in 1952 in the village of Sa Luong, Laos to her father Cha Dang Thao and mother Xang Yang, both of who preceded her in death. She was the fourth oldest of eight children and is survived by her siblings: Za Xiong (Ger Xiong), Vang (Chao Tao Moua), My (Nha Neng Yang), Dr. Neal Nhiacheng Xeng (Gaoee Lee), Kia (Cher Xa Lee), Dr. Nao Xoua (See Vang), and Tcher True (Lee Vang).
In a Minnesota Historical Society oral history project, Phoua recalled a childhood in Laos filled with caring family members and hard work: being carried on her father’s back as he walked from village to village helping others with traditional Hmong ceremonies; planting rice seedlings and building a thatched roof house with her older sisters; and hiking for hours in the predawn to gather water for her family’s daily use.
Marriage & Family
Wang Ger Hang | 1971
Phoua married Wang Ger Hang in December 1971, and they have seven children: Kaying (Bill Hudspeth), Pakou Chee, Ntsuab Zeb Peter, Tsaav Ntses Janssen (May Shoua Yang), Lillian Mai La (Kundan Nepal), Joseph Kong Meng, and Amy (Chris Fairall); seven grandchildren: Keona Hudspeth, Mason Choj Txoos Hang, Noukou Asha Nepal, Ian Ying Kong Hang, Chuefue Ajay Nepal, Landon Hu Seng Hang, Charlotte Gao Hli Chee Hang, and one more grandchild due to arrive later this year.
The War and Ressettlement
Ban Vinai Refugee Camp | 1975
Phoua’s life was often affected by circumstances outside of her control, but she did not let them limit her nor let those hardships embitter her. She created her own good luck and shared her light with others.
In 1975, Phoua and Wang Ger fled war torn Laos to the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand. A year later, they immigrated to the United States (U.S.) as political refugees. The family first settled in Georgia, then Rhode Island and Wisconsin, and finally in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Phoua’s deep and abiding love for her family led her to work countless jobs, among them, as an assembly line operator, a waitress, a house cleaner, a certified seamstress, a Christmas wreath maker, and a farmer to earn funds to help her children access the best educational opportunities available. She believed the key to self-sufficiency and success was a quality education, and her dreams for her children came true when they graduated with undergraduate and graduate degrees from such institutions as Brandeis University, Brown University, Boston University, Georgetown University, St. Olaf College, St. Paul College, University of Minnesota Law School, University of Pennsylvania, University of Saint Thomas, and Yale University.
Cultivating a New Life
Farmers Market | 1980s
In the late 1980’s, Phoua began renting land, growing fresh produce, and selling it at the Saint Paul Farmers Market (Market). As one of the longest standing Hmong members of the Market, Phoua became the de facto Hmong ambassador – providing advice to Hmong farmers, consulting with Market board members, and introducing Minnesotans to pea tips, bitter melons, and purple sweet potatoes – now considered Market favorites. Phoua’s Market stall at the corner of Fourth Street and Broadway Avenue was always active – where family, friends, local politicians, activists, and ordinary people gathered on Saturday and Sunday mornings to buy locally grown produce, talk ideas, and create community – and Phoua was at the center of it all.
In 2011, informed by her own farming challenges, Phoua became a founding member of the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA), a nonprofit dedicated to advocating on behalf of Hmong farming families and building intergenerational and community wealth – no other such organization exists. In fact, she served on the HAFA Board for over six years, where she led the charge to lease a 155-acre farm (now called the HAFA Farm), helped launch a marketing cooperative and food hub, spearheaded a micro-lending program, and helped develop key modules in a national bi-lingual and bi-cultural training program. Phoua’s hope to provide equal and long standing opportunities was realized in 2020 when HAFA secured funds to buy the HAFA Farm, ensuring farmers have long-term access to land near the Twin Cities – the number one challenge they faced.
Civic Engagement
Teacher, Counselor, Advocate
Phoua saw those who were invisible in our society and empowered them to find and use their own voices. She also fought against forces that treated her, and people like her, as if they were second class citizens. After becoming a naturalized citizen, every November on Election Day, she would call her children early in the morning to confirm various polling sites, then pick up a caravan of elderly Hmong widows, drive them to their polling sites, and help them vote.
Phoua never received a formal education, but she was a natural teacher and counselor. People constantly approached her for help because they trusted her with their problems and knew that she would use her knowledge, intellect and good judgment to help them achieve a fair and just resolution. Sometimes, it was simply how to perform a cultural ritual or counsel on parental and marital woes, but more often, it was for serious disputes. Phoua was the most principled person many people knew.
What made Phoua truly extraordinary though was she did all the above even when she did not feel well. She never let anything stop–or slow her down–or define her. She was the physical embodiment of strength and perseverance.
Departure
Finding the Light of Our Own | 2022
Phoua’s greatest legacy was that of a wife, mother, and grandmother. Phoua’s desire to give them the best life possible drove all of her decisions. Her children often recount how she asked that they be given more homework at Parent-Teacher’s conferences to reinforce a hard work ethic. She always prioritized drop offs and pickups for each (through high school) so they would not have to walk or take the bus. For every life situation, her children knew they could always count on her to have the right words and wisdom to impart. Towards the latter part of her life, she was blessed with grandchildren and adored them–they were her sources of joy.
Phoua Thao Hang was a woman shaped by her times and yet before her time. Someone like her will never come again and those of us who were privileged to have known and loved her are now tasked with continuing her story with the fortitude and honor in which it was lived.
Phoua Thao Hang loved deeply and she was deeply loved. She was the brilliant light at the center of her family’s world, and now they must find the light within themselves to carry on.
“Ua neej nyob....
Noog nam noog txiv tej lug nruag, txhaj tau lub teb lub chaws qhuas. Noog nam noog txiv tej lug nyaj lug kub, txhaj tau lub teb lub chaws hlub.
Txhawb kwv txhawb tij, txhaj tau lub chaws ntos.
Paab neej paab tsaav, txhaj tau lub chaws npoj.
Tsim kev phooj kev ywg, txhaj tau txuj kev dlaav.
Ncu ntsoov tsi txhob kis nkeej, txhaj tau noqeeg tau naav.”
“In life...
Honor your parents, and the world will praise you.
Honor your parent’s words and wisdom, and the world will respect you.
Support those around you and in return, you will be supported. Remember your families and in return, they will remember you.
Build friendships and community, and opportunities will flow.
Work early and hard, and abundance will grow.”
- Phoua Thao Hang
