Obituary of Chearla Sengdara

Chearla Sengdara, age 37, of Tucson, AZ, passed into God's eternal loving care on July 9, 2019. She was preceded in death by her parents, Visay and Laky Sengdara, and by her son, Nathaniel. She is survived by her daughter, Myla Inthisone, one sister, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins in Tucson, Little Rock, Arkansas and Portland, Oregon. Chearla, known to all as Bee, was also raised largely by her grandmother, Damdy Saypanya, whom she was very close to until her passing when Bee was 14.

Bee played basketball as a freshman at Rincon H.S. She graduated from Rincon in 2000 and later spent one semester at Pima C.C.  After high school, Bee worked in the fast food industry, working her way up to manager.  She later worked as a cashier at Sprouts and then Fry's until she wasn't able to work anymore.

  Throughout her life, Bee was very social. She loved going to parties and had many friends, who were always very important to her. One of those friends was Jim Inthisone, whom she fell in love with. They later had a daughter together, Myla, born in 2004. Bee had many interests and passions, but her greatest love and joy was Myla. She often said that Myla kept her going when times were hard. Bee did have her tough times, especially with her health. She was diagnosed with diabetes at around age 12 and she battled that disease and its complications for the rest of her life. Her kidneys failed around 2008 and she was on dialysis until she received a kidney transplant in November 2016. Tragically, there were many complications after the transplant and in December she had a nearly fatal cardiac arrest. She eventually had to be moved to a skilled nursing facility, Plaza Healthcare in Scottsdale, where she resided until her death.

  But up until her transplant, there were many good times too with friends and family. Bee loved to eat, cook and to watch cooking shows.  She would always ask "What are you eating?"  She could watch the tv show 'Bizarre Foods' for hours. She loved sports, especially NFL football and most especially her Arizona Cardinals. She hated Tom Brady and the Patriots. She loved her hip hop and R&B music with Chris Brown and Bruno Mars being two of her favorites.  She loved movies, especially the big comic book blockbusters like The Avengers and Black Panther.

  Bee loved her friends and was an extremely loyal friend herself. Probably her greatest quality was the ability to get along with other people and make friends and make people feel comfortable and accepted. She was open and honest about herself and people felt like they could trust her and be her friend. Even her last two years while bedridden or wheelchair-bound and dealing with constant pain and medical problems she still made lots of friends with the nurses, aides, therapists, activity directors and other residents. Her first question every day was "What's on the activity schedule today?" She loved the chance to socialize over bingo, arts and crafts, getting her nails done or whatever else was going on. She would open a conversation with whoever was caring for her by telling them about her daughter and asking about their kids. Two of the longest-term residents both considered Bee to be one of their closest friends and would always come by her room to make sure she was coming to activities.

Bee will always be missed by her family and her friends.

Visitation will be at Angel Valley Funeral Home, on 2545 N. Tucson Blvd. from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 17, 2019. Rosary prayers will be at 6:30 until 7:30. The funeral mass will be at 10:30 on Friday, July 19, 2019, at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Tucson. Burial services will be held immediately following the Mass at Holy Hope Cemetery.