Malee Piyapaka

Champaign - Malee Piyapaka, 96, of Champaign passed away Wednesday (Dec. 14, 2016) at Champaign-Urbana Nursing & Rehab, Savoy. Malee was born June 1, 1920, in Singburi, Thailand, a daughter to Chom and Thiem Sangdang. She married Yekuang SaeSoo Piyapaka in Singburi, Thailand, in 1936. Surviving are three daughters, Jitra Waranyuwat, Wanpen (Paul) Anderson and Suthisa Piyapaka, all of Champaign; two sons, Phubet and Chai Piyapaka, both of Bangkok, Thailand; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; one son, Wanchai Piyapaka; and a granddaughter, Angela Anderson. She was a member of St. Patrick's Church in Urbana. She loved camping, fishing and working in her garden. A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, at St. Patrick's Church, 708 W. Main St., Urbana. A luncheon will be served at St. Patrick's Parish Center afterward. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, Champaign. Sunset Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, the family asks that donations be made to SJS/TEN research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Make checks payable to VUMC and write Angela Anderson Research Fund in the memo. You can give the check to the family or mail it to VUMC Development, Attn: Derek Brown, 2525 West End Ave., Suite 450, Nashville, TN 37203, or go online at http://vanderbilthealth.com/sjsresearchfund. Please join Malee's family in sharing memories, photos, and videos on her tribute wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com.