Dee PHONVILAI

PHONVILAI, YUTSOM, CHANTY, KEOCHAI

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/1/2009 at 11:16:48

September 24, 2008
Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA

Dee Phonvilai, 48, of Webster City, died Sept. 18, 2008 at Woolstock. Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, with Rev. Travis Schmidt and Rev. Kham Phiwtong officiating. Following the service, the body will be cremated and the ashes will be taken to Laos for burial. Visitation will be before the service at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Dee Phonvilai, son of Daeng and Phuey Yutsom Phonvilai, was born June 3, 1960 at Vientienne, Saiyubury. He received his education in Laos. In November of 1975, he married Manh Phonvilai in Laos. In Webster City, he had been employed at Arrow-Acme and Electrolux.

Dee is survived by his wife, Manh; daughters, Lai Phonvilai of Ames; Amy Phonvilai of Fresno, CA; step-daughters, Phath Chanty of Ames; Kong Keochai of Fresno, CA; his mother, Phuey Phonvilai of Sacramento, CA; 15 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren; sisters, Vanhdee Phonvilai of Sacramento, CA; Daeng Phonvilai of Las Vegas, NV. Dee was preceded in death by his father, Daeng Phonvilai. He was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. He served With the Freedom Fighters ICIA Laos Army during the Vietnam War.

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Two WC men dead in tragic hunting accident
By Lori Berglund — Daily Freeman-Journal Editor
Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA
September 19, 2008

Two WC men dead in tragic hunting accident

It was a beautiful late summer day that invited everyone to soak up the warmth and sunshine before it slips away. But in the blink of an eye - in the flash of a second - it changed tragically for two Webster City men and their families.

Dead are Dee Phonvilai, 48, and Tan Khamjoi, 44, both of Webster City. Funerals services are pending for both of these men with Foster's Funeral Home. Pending notices appear on Page 3; full obituaries will be printed when available.

The two men were apparently hunting squirrel at about 10 a.m. Thursday in a wooded area west of Woolstock when one of the men accidentally shot the other in the head.

That man immediately called 911, summoning a multitude of emergency responders to the property on Emmett Avenue in Wright County. The site is located west of the rock quarry on C-70.

The hunter, who has not been named by the Wright County Sheriff's Office, had met officers upon their arrival at the scene and was assisting them in locating the first victim. But apparently, and sadly, overwhelmed by grief at the accident, the tragedy was doubled when this hunter then took his own life, firing one more shot.

The Wright County Sheriff's Office has not indicated if both shots were fired from the same gun.

Officers were close by when the second shooting occurred. No shots were fired by officers, according to the Wright County Sheriff's Office.

There is no indication of foul play, only what was supposed to be a happy day turned tragically sad for all involved.

The investigation is continuing by the Wright County Sheriff's Office and the Iowa DCI. The Iowa State Patrol, Iowa DNR, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, Clarion Police, and Eagle Grove Police assisted at the scene.