Bounnane Souvannasone

Bounnane Souvannasone, Age 78, passed away peacefully Saturday November 12, 2022. He was a loving husband, father, brother, and grandfather.

He fought a rare Scleroderma disease for many years, which gradually took his physical health. He lived with this disease with bravery and resiliency to the very end.

Bounnane was born on July 4, 1944, in Laos in the province of Khammouane, City of Thakhek. At the age of 19 he moved to Vientiane and joined The Royal Lao Air Force and later worked at the Laos Embassy.

He married his sweetheart, Done, and they recently celebrated their wedding anniversary of 56 years. Bounnane was blessed with a large, loving family. He loved family gatherings and enjoyed being surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

Bounnane had a kind heart, a fierce spirit, and a gentle soul; who had been loving and living life to its fullest. He enjoyed fishing, gardening, and music. He always caught plenty of fish and grew an abundance of vegetables to share with his entire community. He was the leader of the Laotian community and willing to help anyone who sought it.

Bounnane had lived a remarkable and an extraordinary life. He lived during the time of political unrest in Laos, where the Laos Monarchy had fallen and was overthrown by the Communist Party. He strongly believed in liberty, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. With a strong conviction in his beliefs, he joined the Laotian’s resistance group and became an CIA informant for the United States. He was captured by the Communist Death Squad, but by divine intervention, lived through the night of the massacre. His life was spared from an execution and sent straight to a concentration camp. Four years later, he escaped and swam across the Mekong River to Thailand, while being pursued and shot at by Communist soldiers with machine guns. Escaping to Thailand, Bounnane worked hard and did everything he could to earn enough money to hire people to go back and retrieve his family in Communist Laos and bring them over to Thailand.

Bounnane survived the Vietnam War, Communist Death Squad, and concentration camp. He had faced unimaginable horrors; but he never let it get in the way of how he lived his life. He always kept a positive attitude, never complaining, nor wishing for more in his life. He lived with a heart of contentment and gratitude each day.

He is survived by devoted wife, Done, and five children; daughters, Malay (Dennis) O’Kroley and Kit (David) Lee; sons, Walle (Nicole), Bobby (Anne), and Andrew (Nancy); sister, Khantary (Akat) Patheuangsinh; brother, Soubine (Khamlang); and grandchildren, Gino, Jacob, Penelope, Noah, Aarywen, Liam, and Reyn.

A private Christian burial will be held at the Sun Prairie Sacred Hearts Cemetery.

A Celebration of Life will be held December 3rd at VFW in Sun Prairie at 2:00 P.M. Please come join us in remembering his life.

VFW

349 S Walker Way

Sun Prairie, WI 53590