IN MEMORY OF ONE OF OUR OWN, Gone too soon.
March 28, 2014
IN MEMORY OF ONE OF OUR OWN, Gone Too Soon.
Monday, March 24th did not pass without remembering our incredible ‘POTMAN’.
Two years after his ‘gone too soon’ humble life ended, anyone who came in contact with him while working with Indigo Threads ask "where is ‘Potman’, Mr. Soupeang." ‘Potman’ respectfully became his nickname being he was originally hired to assist lifting Indigo Threads humongous School Lunch Program soup pots on and off the truck and I couldn’t pronounce his name. Later he became my side-by-side key associate, although we did not verbally speak the same language. An extraordinary rural ethnic man, with a family of 7, he drove 80 km. a day, to perform above and beyond his work with us. ‘Potman’ was referred to as the ‘do everything guy’ with amazing enthusiasm, compassion, initiative and curiosity. A humble charismatic man, school supervisors sought him out while young students little faces shined when he helped carry their soup bowl. And so much more I would like to share about one of the most incredible ‘salt of the earth’ people I have met. Mr. Soupeang died at
age 48 from chronic untreated malaria. I held his hand the last hours before his death with his loving family surrounding him at their rural village home. The first and only pair of shoes he owned, purchased by Indigo Threads for work, sat proudly shined at the end of his deathbed floor mattress. Rest in peace, my friend. If lucky, one ‘Potman’ comes into your life; treasure him or her.
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