Cam Youk Lim's Obituary
Cam Youk Lim was born on 6 June 1936 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to Mrs. Lo Heng To and Mr. Lim Seng Heng. She was the youngest of five children, including three sisters (Pou Yew, Youk Lin, and Youk Chan) and one brother (Youk Kao), all of whom are deceased except for Youk Chan. She attended a Catholic School for four years, followed by three years of Chinese school. She married the late Ear Muy Cuong of Baek Chan, Kandal Province, in the 1960s. She gave birth to Sangkum, Sam, Sophie, and Sophal. Her firstborn, Sangkum, has been missing since Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, and is presumed dead. She also raised stepson Sopha and adopted daughter Danny who live in France.Until 1975, she lived as a housewife and mother in Teuk Laak's Toul Kork district of Phnom Penh. When Phnom Penh fell, the Khmer Rouge evacuated the city under the pretext of American bombing, and her family was eventually sent to Pursat. By late January 1976, her husband died of disease, malnutrition, and overwork.Although widowed, she was able to get herself, Sopha, Danny, Sam, Sophie, and Sophal to Vietnam shortly thereafter, by passing a language exam administered by the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese authorities. She then lived with her children in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) for the next two years until her sister, Youk Chan, succeeded in orchestrating asylum in France in 1978. While there, she worked for P�N�LOPE, an association near the Champs-Elysées that made high-end embroidered linens. The work was difficult and tiring. The French solution to post-traumatic stress was always 'Il le faut, Madame Lim!' (It must be so, Mrs. Lim!). She then immigrated to the United States with three of her children, Sam, Sophie, and Sophal in 1985, settling in California, again, with the help of her sister, Youk Chan, and Mr. Chandara Muon. In the United States, she worked odd jobs, bu primarily as a seamstress for Chinese garment factories in Oakland's Chinatown. It was not an easy life, but despite all this, she managed to provide for her children a safe environment, love, and education. Sam graduated from San Francisco State University in computer science. He now works for Walmart's online business, Walmart.com, as a Software Engineer. Sophie received a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of California, San Francisco. She is now a Pharmacist for Kaiser. Sophal graduated from UC Berkeley with a PhD in Political Science. He is now an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.Cam Youk Lim succumbed on Monday 5 October 2009 at 4am following successful heart bypass surgery on 2 October at ValleyCare Health System in Pleasanton, California. Even in death she is remembered for her kindness and tenacity, her intelligence and devotion. But most of all, she was 73 year-old survivor of the Killing Fields, a mother, and a grandmother. She is survived by her sister, Youk Chan, of El Sobrante, California, sons Sopha, Sam, and Sophal, of Collegien, France, San Francisco and Monterey, California, respectively, daughters Danny and Sophie, of Rouen, France, and Fremont, California, respectively, plus fourteen grandchildren ranging from six months to 24 years of age.
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