Ella Chenyeng Yang

A Celebration of Life for Ella will be held at McGilley and Hoge Funeral Chapel, 8024 Santa Fe Drive, Overland Park, KS 66204 on Sunday, September 27, 2026. Doors will open at 10:00 am and the service will begin at 10:30 am. Following the service, join us for a luncheon as we continue to celebrate Ella. The family would love to have everyone wear their favorite shade of blue in remembrance of Ella. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Wayside Waifs, https://waysidewaifs.org/?form=donate, and select "dedicate this donation' then type in Ella Yang.

Traditional Hmong ceremony and burial to follow in Minneapolis, Minnesota at a later date.

Ella Chenyeng Yang was called home peacefully on September 18th, 2026, at the age of 18. From the moment she arrived on May 2, 2008, in Fridley, Minnesota, Ella brought color, mischief, and endless love into every room she entered. Born to Vong Yang and Chengny Thao, she and her family made their way to Overland Park, Kansas in 2014, the place where so much of her life would unfold. There, she was surrounded by family, friends, and a beloved menagerie of animals, all of whom loved her deeply and were loved by her in return.

Ella graduated from Blue Valley Southwest High School and went on to Johnson County Community College, but her truest gift was the way she carried her warmth with her into every relationship she built. She was known for her wildly creative, wonderfully eccentric artwork, her tender love for cats and dogs, and, most of all, for a heart big enough to love everyone she met, without exception. Alongside her partner-in-crime cousins, Ariel Xiong and Athena Yang, she built a world of dance parties, epic games of house, and memories that could fill a hundred sketchbooks. Ella was equally close with her dear friends Ava and Josh, whose friendship became its own kind of family, filled with laughter, loyalty, and countless shared memories that meant the world to her. She also had a wide and devoted circle of friends and colleagues, who will forever hold her memory close.

Art lived in Ella from the very beginning. As a little girl she was already sketching, painting, and dreaming in color, and that never stopped. Flowers, dragons, anime, graffiti — her imagination poured onto every page and every surface she could find, in every place she visited including her time as a pharmacy tech at Auburn Pharmacy. Tucked between the drawings were her own words: gentle, honest poetry and reflections on the life she was living so fully. Ella left no space untouched and no moment unfelt.

And live she did. Ella turned the whole world into her playground, twirling through Japan in a kimono, sipping tea like royalty in England, devouring pizza in Italy, tutoring students in Thailand, savoring croissants in France, and shopping her way through Singapore. Every stamp in her passport was proof of her fearless, insatiable curiosity — and her belief that the world was too big and too wonderful not to explore.

Ella leaves behind a trail of art, adventure, and love, carried forward by her older sister, Belle; brother-in-law, Camryn; nephew, Callan; brother, Alex; and her two faithful kitties, Simba and Nala, who will keep her spirit of mischief and love alive at home.

Ella will be deeply loved and forever missed by all.

“Think of me when you hear the wind” - Ella