Yanna (Phat) Saynhalath, daughter of Henri and Sophie Phat, passed away July 27, 2025, at the age of 63. Yanna is survived by her husband, Dan, and her two daughters, Rivann and her husband, Kevin, and Rita and her husband, Derek. She was the proud grandmother of Daniel, Emilie, Sebastien, and Sophie. She is also survived by two brothers, Dara and Darith, and two sisters, Yanny and Yannette.
Maman left us on a day that fell between our birthdays. July has always been our family month, which is fitting as family defined her life.
Most will first remember our mom as an excellent cook. She mastered French pastries and baguettes as well as Cambodian and Vietnamese dishes. Her creative talent moved beyond her culinary skills and shone in every area from home design (she helped the architect design our beautiful childhood home in France) to sewing (Christmas dresses are still a memory we recall from long ago), and also styling (Rita’s wardrobe is a sole credit to my mom to this day).
However, beyond these extraordinary talents, we will remember our mom as the heart and soul of our family. She dedicated her life to help our dad with his medical career from their humble beginnings (him as a medical student from Laos with no financial means and her as a war refugee from Cambodia); to raise us and to give us the foundation and strength to move to a new country for high school; and finally, to help us raise our own children as we became mothers.
Our mom taught us how to persevere and never give up. She persevered as a war refugee from Cambodia, as a patient in a hospital in Vietnam right after escaping a war-torn Cambodia by foot, as a partner to our dad in France as they worked various jobs before our dad started his medical career, as a mother who made the decision to give us the opportunity of a lifetime by pushing us to move an ocean away from her at the age of 13 and 14 for our education, and finally again as a patient battling cancer. She encountered every one of these challenges with grace and courage. She showed us again and again that resilience and perseverance would resonate in every step she took. So we will in turn do our best to honor her by living as she has taught us, and take these life lessons forward to her beloved grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, August 3, 2025, at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas, 75013. The service will also be live streamed at the following link: https://celebrationoflife.tv/blog/yanna-saynhalath. After the service, the recorded live stream will be available for viewing at the same link location.
The family will receive guests from 1:30 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. prior to the service.