Viphal Roeung

Biography

Mrs. Viphal Roeung was born on Jan 1964 in Kompong Som Ville. Cambodia to Mr. Roeung Ho(deceased by Khmer Rouge) and Mrs. Kim Eak Pho. She had 6 siblings but only two survived, Socheat Ho and Kosal Ho. In 1989, she married Mr. Bunrith Thong. They had two children, Lay B Tong and Sandy N. Roeung.
This extraordinary woman, born and raised in police base, had a natural talent as a brave leader and fighter. She was capable of accomplishing tasks that most people couldn't do. She understood how to do trade and started learning at a young age how to make an income.
After 1975, her family was forced to move to the rural countryside in Kompot Province where she lost her two sisters and her father during the Khmer Rouge genocide. During that time, she was the oldest and took many risks to help her family survive by joining a group to steal food to help the hunger. Out of the entire group, she was the only one who got away while everyone else was killed.
After the Khmer Rouge was defeated in 1979, she proved that nothing could stop her from reaching her goals. During her teenage years, she rebelled against her mother who wanted her to work to support the family and instead, found a way to make ends meet to bring herself to school. In the four years of school, she outperformed her peers and continuously strived for the best.
In 1984, she met Bunrith Thong, who later on became her husband. They went to medical school together. They fell in love and she had to fight against her family because of racial issues between Chinese and Cambodian and the difference between classes (one richer, one poorer) Five years later, both families were willing to allow the marriage and they got married on April 1989.
Her family escaped to the refugee camp in Thailand while she was pregnant with Lay B Tong. They had many obstacles during the trip to Thailand, walking across landmines. They finally made it to the US on April 1991.
In the US, she strived to live a successful life. She proudly brought all of her immediate and some distant family to the US. She raised money amongst her family members to help the people of Cambodia. Some were related to her and some were strangers who just needed help.
In 2005, she was diagnosed with brain cancer and fought a long hard battle. She had a good ten years to enjoy her life, fulfilling many of her dreams, and visited many countries. The last seven months of her life, she fought very hard to survive and on March 2nd at 4:35PM she lost her battle to brain cancer peacefully at her home surrounded by her loved ones.
Mrs. Viphal Roeung was an ambitious, generous, caring and thoughtful woman who would not accept defeat in any part of her life. Her favorite things to do were cooking, planting and enjoying time with family and friends. She made an impact on many peoples lives here in the US and Cambodia and lived a well-loved life with her husband, mother, siblings, family and friends.