Emily and Oliver Lim...life after dad with ALS

Life has a way of shaping who you are through the challenges that you encounter along the way. One of the most tragic challenges any family can endure is losing a father. Ritchie “Phillip” Lim, a loving husband and dad, ultimately lost his battle to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Phillip was an active supporter of the Cambodian Community in San Jose and is one of the most generous-hearted unselfish people I know. While he wouldn’t give his last two cents to help if you’re in need, he’d gladly share it by giving you one so that he can use the other to continue providing for his family. Phillip rarely expects anything in return, and if he did, he wouldn’t ask for it. That’s the kind of person Phillip is, always willing to put his family and those in need before his own. He lived a modest life with his wife and two kids. Phillip supports his own family, dad, and many other family members and relatives in two countries. Still, he finds the strength and time to donate countless hours to support the Cambodian communities and Buddhist temples. He often tells me why he doesn't need to take lavish vacations or buy a fancy car when there’s still family and people around him who are in need. Truly one of a kind.

Phillip’s determination and work ethics are no different when he’s in the office. For almost 30 years, working his way up for the same company working alongside colleagues with multiple masters and Ph.D. well beyond his education level. Despite those adversities, he still managed to find his place within the company, building trust, helping to train, bringing teams together to solve problems and working towards the common objectives. When he was assigned overseas, he didn’t just build customers but also a friend. Some still reached out to him regularly, even after the assignment was over, to see how he was doing.

When Phillip was diagnosed with ALS, he was devastated. It was a terminal illness, a debilitating disease with no known cure, and all that came to mind was his wife and two young children who were too young to fend for themselves. It’s like someone took all the wind out of his sail. Almost overnight, a man who was full of hope always seeing himself helping others to now a person who slowly loses his ability to use his limbs, starting with his legs, then his arms. Shortly after that losing his ability to sit, swallow and breathe when he was bedridden during the last few weeks of his life. I couldn’t imagine what he must be going through. While he gradually loses his ability to move, his mind remains primarily unaffected, and he is fully aware of his surroundings, feeling hopelessness. It pains him to see others, especially when grandma, whose way past his senior, has to help him do even the most straightforward task like washing his face, spoon-feeding him, lifting his legs, pulling the blanket over him when he’s so used to being the one that’s helping others. Eventually, ALS got the best of him when he finally lost his battle to this horrific disease on February 11, 2022.

The overflow of support from families, loved ones, and the local community, including the Buddhist temple, has been overwhelming. Help came from every direction without having to ask for them because they knew that their friend Phillip would do the same for them if they faced similar unfortunate circumstances. Helping the family through the maze of funeral arrangements and ceremonies, bringing meals over for the kids, offering to take the kids out so that mom can get a break, cooking and cleaning, finding health coverage information to simple chores of showing mom how to set up bill pay and budgeting. The family has a long road ahead of them; with their mom having to raise two kids on her own without a steady source of income, they need all the help they can get.

Phillip is survived by his wife Sokleng, a homemaker, daughter Emily is a senior in high school who aspires to follow her dad’s footsteps of becoming a computer engineer and son Oliver who recently turned 12. Both kids are still young to fully appreciate the sacrifices their dad made to have a better life with more opportunities than what he had when he was growing up.

Any contributions towards his family would be profoundly grateful.