Lily Q. Pay

Lily (Chheng) Pay, aged 78, of San Jose died at San Jose Regional Medical Center on October 4, 2022 at 1:35 pm due to complications of pneumonia from onset of COVID-19 while recovering in the hospital from recent hip surgery.

She was the second eldest child, born August 15, 1945 to Jeaw Pay and Siv-Ly Lim, who immigrated to Cambodia from China. Lily grew up with six siblings: eldest brother, Tea Huor; younger sisters, Quec Huong and Soy Huong; and younger brothers, David, Charles and Gary.

At the tender age of 14, Lily earned a living as a seamstress. Ten years later, she met Lee Pay and married at age 24. Together, they raised five children, three daughters and two sons, while Lily ran a successful convenience store and Lee managed a family-owned rice company.

In 1974, Lily and Lee lost everything during the communist takeover of Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. Under this brutal regime, Lily was forced into hard labor in leech infested rice fields from dawn to dusk for over five grueling years. After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge in 1980, Lily and Lee fled the country with their family. During the perilous journey out of Cambodia, Lily lost two daughters and a son: two to malnutrition and one to chicken pox. As refugees, their travels took them through several countries, including Thailand and the Philippines. By 1981, Lily and her family found refuge in the United States and sought a new start with better opportunities for her remaining children. With the long journey behind them, Lily and Lee settled in San Jose and found new hope with the birth of their daughter, an American-born miracle child.

With renewed optimism (and many mouths to feed), Lily and Lee scraped a living in America working various food services jobs before operating a family-owned donut shop in San Ramon. Upon retirement as proud grandparents, Lily and Lee moved to Rocklin to help care for their grandchildren.

In 2012, Lily was diagnosed with Stage IV Thymic Cancer and sought treatment under specialist care at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto. Her initial prognosis was grim and only gave her months to live. Ultimately, she outlasted all life expectancy estimates in her battle with cancer for over 11 years.

Life chose a difficult path filled with insurmountable challenges for Lily, but she persevered through her fighting spirit and mental fortitude that allowed her to live to see her family grow and prosper. She was an amazing cook, a supportive mother, and a loving grandmother. In memory of Lily, her family and friends will cherish her strength, intelligence, and determination.

Lily Pay is survived by her husband, Lee; eldest daughter, Leanne; son-in-law, Alex; son, Leary; daughter-in-law, Jasmine; youngest daughter, Diana; son-in-law, Jimmy; two granddaughters, Oceanna and Kyra; and five grandsons, Spencer, Dexter, Clark, Norrin and Dean.