Saovapa Denbleyker

Saovapa Denbleyker

Saovapa Denbleyker (Potijuk) – Known by friends and family as Jeab.  Jeab passed away on March 19, 4:14 a.m. Pacific Time USA at Evergreen Hospice in Kirkland, Washington after a long battle with myelofibrosis/leukemia.  Funeral services are not being held in the U.S.A. as her husband is the only family here and she was surrounded by coworkers as they visited her in the University of Washington Hospital.  Ashes will be transported to Thailand when available.  In Thailand, there was a 7-day service held in her honor on May 25 and there will also be a 50-day and a 100-day service as well.

Jeab was born in Ratchaburi, Thailand to Jamnong (dad) and Siriya (mom) Potijuk.  Jeab was the eldest of 3 siblings, with sister Yada (Ji) and brother Toto.  Yada is the last remaining of the family.  Her father was Thai military and they moved around the area when she was young, but most of her youth was spent growing up in Lopburi, Thailand.  Jeab excelled as a student and her father persuaded her to enter a nursing program, which she did and she ended up graduating from Thammasat University in Bangkok.  She worked as a nurse at various facilities in Thailand, most notably at Thawoong Hospital in Loburi.

Jeab was introduced to an American man, Eric Denbleyker, in early 1999 by close friends.  They were married in Lopburi on October 3, 1999 and she moved to Washington State, U.S.A. 9 months later after her U.S. immigration visa was approved.  She spent the first few years here improving her English and then in 2004 began working as an RN at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, WA, where she was able to apply her exceptional training in Thailand to a long and successful career there, primarily in the ICU and PACU departments.  She received numerous certifications and awards during her career – both in Thailand and in Washington state.  She is deeply missed by her friends and colleagues here and I’m sure in Thailand as well.

Jeab was not necessarily an active person with a lot of hobbies.  She enjoyed gardening at home and some traveling, especially when her mother and sister Yada were able to visit her here.  But her focus was on her career and I (Eric) would often catch her studying something in a health care book or on the computer screen.  She was very, very dedicated to health care and helping people.  She was kind to the creatures of the earth and loved her dogs immensely.  She would not even hurt a spider if she found one in the house; she would just pick it up and carry it safely outside.  That was the dear Jeab that I knew for 27 years.

Jeab is survived in the U.S. by her husband and a family of friends at Evergreen.  In Thailand, she leaves behind her sister Yada and extended family throughout the area, as well as numerous friends and colleagues there, with special mention to her colleague from Thawoong Hospital, Dr. Winai Ratanasuwan.  Dr. Ratanasuwan kindly gave her a great deal of support when she became ill some years ago and stayed with her as her consultant via phone messaging.  As her surviving husband, it is my wish that all the people in Thailand remember that she cared for and helped thousands of patients while here at Evergreen Hospital over the past 22 years.  She was loved and respected immensely here.

She leaves behind no children.

It is said “Time heals all wounds”.  I don’t know if enough time exists in the universe to heal this wound.  It is with profound sadness that I say “Goodbye my sweet Honey.”