Than Pok, 77, lauded for helping Cambodian refugees settle in area

Than Pok, a leader who helped thousands of Cambodian refugees settle in Southern California after they fled the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, has died. He was 77.

Pok died from complications from Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19 in Houston, where he had been living with his wife, Nanda, according to his son, Ravith.

Pok was the first executive director of United Cambodian Community and built it into a major nonprofit serving Cambodians in the late 1970s and 1980s. During the Khmer Rouge regime under dictator Pol Pot, an estimated 2 million to 3 million Cambodians were killed by government troops.

“Than was a visionary leader, a brilliant and sensitive man, who saw a need in the community and stepped up to meet the needs of arriving refugees. UCC became a beacon of hope for refugees and immigrants from many countries,” said Bonnie Lowenthal, a Port of Long Beach commissioner who worked for Pok as director of planning for UCC before she became a member of the

Long Beach school board, City Council and state Assembly.

Former Long Beach city manager Jerry Miller said UCC, under Pok’s leadership, increased employment and training opportunities for Cambodian adults and youth.

“I will always remember Than Pok for his warm and gracious spirit in building relationships that benefitted not only the Cambodian community but Long Beach overall,” Miller said.

Tonia Reyes Uranga, a former Long Beach councilwoman, said Pok showed Cambodians “the endless possibilities of this country. His efforts resulted in, decades later, the first Cambodian (Suely Saro) to serve on the Long Beach City Council. He will be missed, but his work lives on.”

Judith Luther Wilder, who worked with Pok as a consultant, said in a phone call from her home in Nova Scotia, that Pok was “an amazing and remarkable man who shined wherever he worked, whether in Long Beach or Cambodia. He had suffered

more tragedy in his life than any of us want to imagine, but he also appeared to embody inconceivable joy. He was, perhaps, the most caring man I ever met.”

Pok’s life was filled with adversity from an early age.

He was born May 1, 1943, during World War II, and he and his three brothers were orphaned as young boys as each of the parents died from illnesses.

He was raised by his father’s brother, San Ben, who later was executed by the Kymer Rouge.

When Pok moved to Phnom Penh for his higher education, he stayed at a Buddhist temple because San Ben did not have a home in the capital city. Ben’s son, Bryant, was able to flee to Long Beach where he became president of the nonprofit Cambodian Genocide Memorial Center.

Just as Bryant Ben’s father had raised him, Pok would help raise Bryant Ben in Long Beach.

“Than was like a second father to me,” Bryant Ben said.

Before the Kymer Rouge took over, Pok began serving his country in 1971 as the Chief of Cabinet for the Ministry of Education and

Culture. In 1973, Pok was sent by the government to get a higher education degree at USC to then return to help develop Cambodia’s education system.

This move proved to be a lifesaving event for Pok because he was studying at USC when the Pol Pot regime took control of Cambodia.

Pok earned a master’s degree in education USC in 1975 and a master’s degree in social welfare from UCLA in 1980.

Ravith Pok said education was a bedrock of his father’s principles throughout his life.

“He worked hard to provide educational opportunities he served,” he said.

Pok worked first as a social worker and director of refugee resettlement and employment for Los Angeles County before taking over as UCC executive director and creating the largest non-governmental organization to serve immigrant

populations across Southern California, according to the family obituary.

In 1993, in what he called “a wrenching decision,” Pok returned to Cambodia to help reunify his homeland by seeking a seat in Parliament.

“I have a good life here in Long Beach,” he told the Press-Telegram then. “I am leaving everything I worked for for 25 years. It is very difficult. For me, this decision is comparable to the time my country fell. Cambodia is going through a total transformation.”

He said what he would really miss is the freedom that America offered.

”You don’t know how important freedom is until you leave. It’s like the air you breathe,” he said.

Pok lost that first election, but he continued to work to build a foundation for a democracy in Cambodia. He won the next election to Parliament in 1998 and was appointed Secretary of State in the Ministry of Education. He then returned to his passion for teaching as a professor at Pannhasas University of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.

Pok remained in Cambodia, but he would return to Long Beach on different occasions. One of the most memorable came on Oct. 6, 2017, when he returned to Long Beach to be honored at the 40th anniversary gala of UCC. He gave a brief but emotional speech.

“It is for Cambodia and it is for the rest of the world to see the magic of the community coming together to serve one another and others outside,” he said. “I would like to thank the current board of directors and staff and donors who make this dream of ours possible. Your continued leadership and services to the community is one of the reasons I hold a sense of pride for being a Cambodian American. I wish you nothing but the very best, and I thank you very much.”

It was to be his last major public appearance. He was scheduled to be a grand marshal at the 2020 Cambodian New Year parade, but it was cancelled due to COVID-19, his son said.

By this time, Pok’s health had deteriorated and he moved to Houston where his wife’s family lived and where he died after COVID-19 struck him.

In addition to his wife, Nanda, survivors include four sons, Ravuth, Ravath, Ravith and Anand; one daughter, Ramie Pok; stepchildren, Nancy and Jason; nephews, Bryant Ben and Sokhom Ben, and 11 grandchildren.

A private family service was held Saturday. A public memorial service is being planned for later.