Nhoua Yang (Txhiaj Nyuam Yaj) was born on January 7th, 1972 to Colonel Yong Chue Yang and Plia Lor Yang in Long Cheng, Xieng Khouang, Laos. He was the second youngest of 13 children. His siblings are:
1. brother Xia Vue, 2. sister Njoua (deceased), 3. sister Blia (deceased), 4. sister Kab Zuag (deceased), 5. sister Mai Neng (deceased), 6. brother Chasong, 7. sister See, 8. brother Wa Yia, 9. brother Chong Shua, 10. brother Chong, 11. sister Geu, 12. sister Pao Yee (deceased).
When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the US Secret War in Laos also ended and Laos fell to the Communists. Nhoua was just three years old. His parents and siblings fled by airplane to Thailand on May 14th, 1975. They stayed in the Namphong refugee camp for a couple of months, then moved to Ban Vinai Refugee camp. In August of 1976, his family came to Sheboygan, WI under the sponsorship of Pastor Don Leonard and several other families from Grace and Trinity Lutheran Churches.
Nhoua attended St. Paul Lutheran and Trinity Lutheran grade schools and received his Holy Communion Confirmation in 1985. He attended Sheboygan South High from l985 to 1989. After high school, he went to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Commercial Arts in 1995.
After Nhoua came home from college, his first professional job started with Union Oriental Market, a family business corporation that was founded in Sheboygan in 1982. In 1997, Nhoua joined the family business and served as Vice President and Store Manager until the business was sold at the end of 2021.
During his entire professional career, Nhoua upheld his job responsibilities with integrity and professionalism. He was very well appreciated by many, from food vendors to employees. He had a good sense of humor and enjoyed friendly relationships with everybody, especially his nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, friends, employees, and customers. Nhoua was a very dedicated, hard-working, reliable, and helpful person, and loved by all.
Nhoua was a loving and kind gentleman. If he was a friend, he considered you family – and his family was large – especially from the Sheboygan Community. As the Manager of Union Market and prior to selling the business to a new owner in 2021, he saw and knew many. He was well known for his collection of Yu Gi Oh cards, Magic the Gathering card collection, and many many comics from the early days. He was an avid reader of fantasy and science fiction. With his love of writing and drawing, his writing was beautiful and flawless, and his pictures were unique and well-drawn. He taught us to play Dungeon and Dragons, and where I learned to be a Dungeon Master. God’s will is mysterious. He has a reason for everything. I will miss Nhoua, for being my “nephew”, and for being like an older brother to me. Nhoua, you will be missed. I think that his message to his children would be similar to…
