A caring person, a true friend, Tou Pao Lee
I was facing a gardening quandary one May a few years back. I had a break in my right arm, and it was time to sow seeds. I headed for the planting site contemplating my options. As I rounded the corner approach to our community garden, I heard, and then saw, fellow friend gardener Tou Pao running a tiller, turning over the soil of my designated portion of our urban farm. His wife, my friend Ka, accompanied him with a hoe. Tou Pao was committing this act of kindness despite his ailing health. Breathing was difficult for him because he was enduring the effects of toxic fumes breathed in while working in an air conditioning factory. The illness was so severe that it resulted in him losing his job, yet he responded to my need with determination and caring.
The best tool for tilling a garden
Tou Pao Lee was a tool maker, an artisan. Due to his generosity, I have the best hoe on the block, a Hmong hoe fashioned with steel, sharpened to dangerous points that cut the soil with ease, attached to a wooden five-foot-long pole. This is a cherished gift which will be passed on to one of my family member gardeners of the next generation.
Determination and skills of Tou Pao Lee obtained while a youngster in Laos
Our community garden on the corner of Bryant Avenue and 22nd Avenue of the Northside was farmed by six to eight families for nine years following a vision of neighbor Russ Barclay. A part of the plot was overshadowed by the branches of a single scraggly, tall, skinny, scrub-like, self-appointed tree on the south fence line. It was too high to be reached for limb removal, even from a ladder. So here comes fellow gardener Tou Pao Lee to resolve the problem. He shimmed up the tree, went up a good 20 feet, or more, and with a machete, sliced off the “offending” branches and leaves within minutes and slid back down to the ground with ease.
Mr. Tou Pao Lee (Tub Pov Lis) passed away March 8, 2024. In his older years, he was known by his npe laus elder name Blia Cha Lee / Npliaj Tsab Lis. Five of his children graduated from Henry High School.