Lee Xiong

The Legacy of Lee Xiong, 1927-2026

Our cherished mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Lee Xiong, passed away on April 6, 2026, in the presence of her beloved family. She was 99.

When Lee was born in spring of 1927, the United States had yet to fall into the Great Depression. Lee grew up a world away, in the shadow of forested mountains in Xieng Khouang, Laos. Her people were Hmong, primarily farmers. Her life was lived in seasons—each one with its own kind of work, challenges, and harvest.

Her formative years were spent in a thatched-roof, bamboo-walled house with a dirt floor. The middle child of nine children, six brothers and two sisters, her list of responsibilities was endless.

She met and married her husband Nhia Chue Lee at the age of 20 in 1947. Together they had nine children, the last being born in 1974. Three of her children died before reaching adolescence in Laos. Life had already made her a strict, but loving mother, willing to do anything for the survival of her family.

As a result of growing danger in Laos, Lee and her husband made the decision to leave behind their homes, everything they knew, in search of a safer life. Under the cover of night, she and her family swam together across the Mekong River toward Thailand. They lived nine months in the Ban Vinai refugee camp before Lee’s oldest children sponsored them to come to America. They arrived in the Washington DC metro area in January 1980. Lee was 53 years old when the second half of her life began.

A true pioneer, blazing her own trail in a new place, Lee faced more than unfamiliar customs and a language she didn’t know. But having survived the harrowing journey out of Laos, she was optimistic that the challenges of America would be easier to navigate. Yet only two years after beginning their new life, Lee’s world collapsed again when her beloved husband died suddenly. Lee was now responsible for the care of both her mother-in-law and her children.

She approached it all with the same philosophy she would impart on her children: if you are teachable, humble, and industrious, you can succeed at anything. She did not allow herself to rest for even a moment. She babysat; sewed and sold Hmong embroidery, quilts, and blankets; made clothes for herself and her children; and saved every dollar and cent for her children, nothing for herself. One by one, she saw her children graduate from high school and go on to college.

In June of 1992, she became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, finding hope in the promise of eternal families and being reunited with her husband and the children she lost in Laos. The members of the Dulles Branch in the DC metro area were Hmong Lao, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Caucasian, yet despite language barriers, Lee befriended all. Her charm transcended language, and in the later years of her life, she continued to collect many friends and loved ones. Once all her children were married, she loved traveling across the country, staying with her children’s families for several months at a time. She had a place in each of their homes.

Lee was perpetually in motion. Whether creating with her hands, sewing, cooking, daily walks, or being outside in the sunshine, she could not sit still. One of her greatest joys was gardening—cultivating for the pleasure of it—instead of survival. To say she had a green thumb was a disservice, plants thrived in her presence. When she finally settled, it was in American Fork, Utah, with her two youngest daughters and their husbands. She stayed sharp, cheerful, witty, and thoughtful to the very end.

While it is nearly impossible to overstate the distance between her birth in a bamboo hut and the home in Utah County where she took her last breath, nothing bridged that span more unexpectedly than a cellphone. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are spread across the country, but Lee stayed tethered to them all. When she could no longer travel, love moved her to call daily, and orchestrate taking care of their needs, as best she could. Love from Lee began with the question, “Have you eaten today?”

No one could bear to imagine a world without her in it. Through her challenges and choices, she paved the way for her children and grandchildren to carve their own paths. And while she endured the passing of so many before her, it seemed as if she were constantly torn between two worlds: staying with those she loved or joining those who had gone before.

Those who preceded her in death include her parents, Chong Kao Xiong and Xai Yang; her siblings, Zang Thao Xiong, Chia Lee Xiong, Lig Xiong, Nhia Khoua Xiong, Neng Chue Xiong, Doua Xiong, Bee Xiong, and Bao Xiong; her husband, Nhia Chue Lee; her children, Mai Shoua Thao (Xa Thao) of Texas, Tou Toua, May, and Mai Chong; and many other relatives of her generation. Still here are her children, Thao Kong (Xeng) (and Si M Ly) of North Carolina, Tia Lee of Wisconsin, Doua Lee of South Carolina, Shoua (and Michael Ellis), and Chao (and Willie Stevens), both of Utah. Surviving her too are 22 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren, who enable her to live on in their memories.

Lee lived for nearly a century. An incomprehensible amount of time for a single human to experience, with a life spanning an extraordinary amount of history, upheaval, and technological advances. And yet, her defining characteristic in the face of it all, was her boundless capacity to see the good in everyone. She sowed that belief generously, without keeping score, trusting that what she gave would eventually come back to the people she loved. Perhaps the greatest lesson of her life can be drawn from her humble beginnings: a good farmer doesn’t just plant seeds for herself — she farms for the table, for the next season, for the ones coming after. What she planted, we will all continue to harvest, basking in the light of her love.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at 10:00 am, at the LDS chapel located at 1320 West 3540 North, Pleasant Grove, Utah. Family and friends may come between 9:00 and 9:45 am for a viewing at the church prior to services. Interment will be at 10:00 am on April 18, 2026, at the Trinity United Methodist Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia, where Lee will be laid to rest beside her husband. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Global Refuge to support the resettlement of future refugees. 

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