By Nick Wadhams/AP
One teen-age victim was described as a sports fanatic who loved fast cars and engineering. His youth pastor was known for his concern that the children he taught remember their Hmong ancestors.
On July 10, members of the Denver Hmong Alliance Church gathered to mourn the deaths of Wesley Her, 15, and Rev. Chong Her, 36 — two of the four people killed when the van they were in crashed on its way to a weeklong religious retreat for Hmong youth in north-central Idaho. Bouquets of flowers were laid out along with drawings of the four and notes from people who knew them.
Chong Her had a passion for teaching children, said Nha Long Yang, the director of church planning with the Hmong district of the Christian Missionary Alliance.
“He sacrificed himself for youth, that’s just who he was,” Yang said.
Her came to Denver about two years ago because of the booming number of children at the Hmong church in Westminster, Colo. He taught Bible studies as well as the Hmong language and culture to the kids, many of whose parents and grandparents do not speak English.
Wesley Her, who was not related to Chong Her, loved the Colorado Avalanche hockey team and playing basketball. He was big, about 6 feet tall at age 15, and reminded friends of one of his favorite NBA players, Shaquille O’Neal.
“They called him the ‘Hmong Shaq’ because he was just so huge,” said Nancy Xiang, who once taught Wesley in Sunday school.
Wesley planned to get an engineering degree and enjoyed tinkering with Japanese-made cars to make them faster.
“The last time I saw him I dropped him off here and said have a good trip,” said Wesley’s mother, Mai Her. “Our hopes and dreams relied on Wesley.”
The others killed in the crash were Jonathan Vang, 15, of Northglenn, Colo.; and Voua Lee, 24, of Thornton, Colo. The remaining eight people in the van were injured, two critically.
Lee wanted to go on the retreat because he enjoyed teaching children about God and was curious to see Idaho for the first time.
“He wanted to make a difference, he wanted to impact young kids,” said his sister, 31-year-old Rebecca Lee.
The 2001 Ford 15-passenger van was headed for the Living Water Ranch near Challis, Idaho, for the retreat that was being attended by scores of Hmong American youths from several western states.
“Overall there is kind of a sadness,” said Mark Bryan, the administrative manager for the retreat, which continued on July 10. “At the same time, they’re trying to find some meaning in the midst of it.”
A 17-year-old was behind the wheel when the van crashed about 40 miles away from the ranch, at the end of an 11-hour trip. Police said the van apparently veered off the right side of U.S. 93 and when the driver overcorrected, it careened across the roadway and rolled.
As some family members gathered at the church, others stayed home, accepting visits from other Hmong Americans in the community.
“It’s hard to cope with it but we accept that they are going to a good place,” said 34-year-old Xong Her, Wesley Her’s aunt. “He was a good kid. We were training them to be good kids.” |
