Khamsi Bounkhong Siluangkhot

Khamsi Bounkhong Siluangkhot passed away peacefully in his Morganton, NC, home on May 27, 2018. Mr. Siluangkhot was a loving husband, family man, and respected leader for the area’s Lao-American community. He was born on January 1, 1937, in Luang Prabang, Laos, to Phouangsavanh (father) and Somsy Siluangkhot (mother). In his later years, he dedicated himself to nurturing, celebrating, and passing on his Buddhist faith.

Between 1960 and 1975, Mr. Siluangkhot served his country as a doctor and colonel for the Royal Lao Government. Following the takeover by the communist Pathet Lao Party in 1975, Mr. Siluangkhot—like so many of Laos’s professional class—was sentenced a political re-education camp for five years. He later credited this experience for giving him the ability to adapt to any circumstance.

Just six months after his release, he fell in love with Noubath Phapphayboun, and the couple married in 1981. For the next decade, Mr. Siluangkhot worked as a physician and administrator at Mahosot Hospital in Vientiane—Laos’s first, and most important, hospital. In 1991, in order to be closer to their children in the United States, the couple left Laos and settled in Bridgeport, CT. Mr. Siluangkhot adapted easily, working as a machine operator and serving on the management teams of the local Lao Buddhist temple and family association.

In 2003, the couple moved to Morganton, NC, to join three of Noubath’s children from her previous marriage. During his first year in Morganton, with the support of his wife, Mr. Siluangkhot drew together a few key community members to found Morganton’s Buddhist temple, Wat Lao Sayaphoum. Fifteen years later, the temple is an important gathering place for the Lao community. It was Mr. Siluangkhot’s wish to provide future generations with this pathway for embracing their faith and cultural identity. He was as dedicated to his family as he was to his faith and his service to others will persist in memory.

He is survived by his wife, Noubath Siluangkhot; his four step-children Khattana Hadba, Toon Phapphayboun, Daraphone (Dara) Phrakousonh, and Noh Phapphayboun; and his biological children Vongphrachan (Outh) Siluangkhot, Hatsadachan (Oth) Siluangkhot, Phayboun (Eth) Siluangkhot, Phounsouk (Ith) Siluangkhot, and Somprasong (Cheunh) Siluangkhot.

The family will greet friends from 12 to 2 p.m., Saturday, June 2 2018 in the old armory building at 306 W. McDowell Street behind the Morganton Department of Public Safety.  The service will follow at 2 p.m.

Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center is assisting the family with the arrangements.