A memorial service is Tuesday (Dec. 9) for Burmese refugee Ciin Nuam, who died suddenly cooking dinner on Dec. 2, leaving behind six children who attend Tukwila’s schools.
She was six months pregnant at the time of her death; her daughter Sian Hoih, who weighed 2 1/2 pounds, is doing “very well” at Swedish Hospital, according to Sara Niegowski, communications director for the Tukwila School District.
Niegowski set up an online fundraiser for the family that as of Monday afternoon has raised just over $46,000 for basic needs and for burial costs for Ciin Nuam. The goal was $10,000.
The community is also stepping forward to buy Christmas presents for the children, including Seattle City Light and Providence Hospital Everett’s Critical Care Unit.
“The family is incredibly inexpressibly thankful,” Niegowski wrote in a post on the district’s website.
Baby Sian’s oldest sister, Niang Lun Cing, is visiting Sian at the hospital, where she is learning to take her temperature and change her diaper.
“The highlight is when the baby opened her eyes for the first time and looked at her sister, causing her to actually laugh out loud with joy,” Niegowski wrote.
The family has lived in Tukwila for nine months.
The memorial service for Ciin Nuam is 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Showalter Middle School, 4628 S. 144th St., Tukwila.
