Hon "Amy" K. Choua

Hon Koun Choua 蔡鳯君, known to many as Amy, passed away on October 12th, 2021 in the comfort of her daughter and her son-in-law’s home in Silver Spring, Maryland. She was 66 years old. She is survived by her husband, Xi Phung; daughter, Cindy Phung; son-in-law, Zach McLean; siblings Jenny (Peter) Chin and family, Boun (Richard) Chu and family, Engkoun (Tony) Quan and family, Sue (Calvin) Lee and family, Sone Thao, Lily Tsai and family, Lan (Andrew) Chung and family, Christine Wong and family, and a host of beloved friends and extended family.

Amy was born in Cambodia and spent her formative years living in Laos with her family where she went to,寮都公学 Liewtou Chinese School.Those who knew her describe her as beautiful, smart, the “teacher’s pet”, talented at the performing arts like singing and dancing, and an avid ping-pong player. They also mention that despite her popularity, she always retained a coy demeanor.

She later moved to Taipei, Taiwan with her family where she went to Songshan Commercial College. She spent her early 20’s in Taiwan as a teacher and an accountant. She loved working with kids but also had a profound respect and tenderness towards the elderly. Along with her family, Amy immigrated to the United States with her family in the 80’s. She enjoyed learning and had dreams of going to school when she got here. However, she had to start working at her family’s restaurant and never had the opportunity to do so. That is also where she met her husband, Xi Phung. They married in 1986 and had their only daughter, Cindy, in 1988.

Amy loved her family more than anything. In a large family, she was the mediator, peacekeeper, and the glue that held everyone together. There are few people Amy loved more than her mother. In the last two years of her life, it became uncanny how much she resembled her mother in both mannerisms and appearance. She loved family gatherings and would always ask whether you had eaten or taken a nap yet (food and rest are very important!). Besides her mother, her other big love was Cindy. Her sisters lovingly teased her about how excited she got to introduce her customers to her daughter, saying “thisssss is my daughter!!” Amy worked tirelessly to make sure Cindy never felt without and would happily do it again to give her all of the opportunities she never had.

Amy had the ability to connect in a positive way with everyone she met. For that reason, there’s still much debate about who loved Amy the most and who she loved the most. As someone with a great sense of humor, she loved to keep everyone guessing (and I guess we’re still guessing). At one point, calling her son-in-law, Zach, her #1 and demoting Cindy to #2.

Although these last 27 months included a lot of challenges, they were also filled with many happy memories. Amy finally made the road trip with Zach, Cindy and the granddogs to visit Zach’s family on Cape Cod after promising to do so for almost 7 years. She also hosted one of the best family Christmas parties which included lots of food (everything from lasagna to Korean BBQ), karaoke, a white elephant gift exchange, and lots of picture-taking. In June of 2021, she was able to see Cindy get married. When asked if she liked Zach, she always said “I love him and I love his family.” Amy passed 3 days before their wedding reception, no doubt, so that she could join the party.