Erica Sook Ing Ng

Erica Sook Ing Ng, 59, passed away unexpectedly at home sometime after attending Christmas Eve Mass. She was born May 5, 1965, in Singapore to Hong Pin Ng (father) and Chwee Geck Low (mother), the third of five children. In May 1989, she legally changed her name to Erica Sook Ing Ng. 
 
At the time Erica attended school in Singapore, she said there were “traditional” and “modern” schools. At traditional schools students were taught in Mandarin and learned English as a second language, whereas at modern schools students were taught in English and took Chinese as a second language. Erica said she was the only one of her siblings to attend modern school. After graduating from Thomson Secondary School in Singapore, she went to Toronto, Alberta, Canada. She lived there for several months before heading west to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to attend the University of Victoria where she graduated in 1988 with her first Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry. Next she headed south to Iowa City, Iowa, United States, to attend the University of Iowa. She completed their Phlebotomy Certification Program in 1989 before earning her second Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology in 1990 from there. She then sat for the national American Society of Clinical Pathologists and National Certification Agency boards which she passed earning her MT(ASCP) and CLS(NCA) credentials, respectively. She worked for a short time in the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics laboratory before heading west to Des Moines to work at Mercy Hospital Medical Center, now MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. She worked at Mercy for three years and while there earned her third degree, a Master of Science in Health Care Administration in 2000 from Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center. She next moved to Iowa Falls to work at Ellsworth Municipal Hospital for a year. She returned to Des Moines where she worked at Iowa Lutheran Hospital, now Unity Point, for one year before going to Iowa Methodist Medical Center, now also Unity Point, for three years. Her next job was working weekend package at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa. At the larger hospitals she worked in the Microbiology Department and as a laboratory generalist at the smaller hospitals. Her final job was working for the Iowa Department of Pubic Safety in the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). She worked in the Criminalist DNA Section and was named the Department of Public Safety’s “Employee of the Month” for July 2007. At the time of her death she was a State of Iowa DNA Criminalist and the State CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) Administrator for the Iowa DCI Criminalistics Laboratory. In addition to helping solve crimes, she also used her vacation hours to volunteer with other organizations working to identify the remains of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina.
 
In addition to her laboratory career, she briefly worked as a nanny and worked part-time at Walmart for a time. She worked two jobs most of her life.
 
Right before her 39th birthday she was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer. She’d had a complete physical the week before she found a lump. She underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. She had been cancer free for fifteen years before it came back as stage 4. She again underwent chemotherapy and was currently on maintenance immunotherapy. At the time of her death her scans had been clear for several years. She was a cancer warrior and survivor and always participated in the Des Moines Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
 
Erica was raised as Buddhist in Singapore but converted to Christianity in Des Moines where she was baptized and confirmed into the Episcopal Church on April 4, 1999 at The Cathedral Church of St. Paul. She later converted to Catholicism and was baptized at St. Theresa Catholic Church on March 22, 2022 by Fr. Larry Hoffmann who will be doing her Mass of Christian burial there, sort of bringing her full circle in her Catholic faith journey. She was active in the Church and served as a Eucharistic minister distributing Holy Communion to Catholics unable to attend Mass in person. When St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church was being built in Ankeny, she joined that church and donated money for one of the statues there. She thought it was pretty special she could be part of building a new church. Although she was a registered member of St. Luke’s, St. Theresa’s held a special place in her heart as it’s where her Catholic journey began and she would have her friend Dottie take her there to pray before her medical treatments. 
 
On January 1, 2000, Erica became a United States citizen and renounced her Singapore citizenship. She loved her adopted country. In December of that year, she moved into her new house in Ankeny, Iowa.
 
Erica was lifelong learner. In addition to her three college degrees, she completed Professional Career Development Institute’s The Professional Hotel and Restaurant Management Program and The Professional Travel Program in 1998. She also took multiple science classes at Iowa State University between 1992 and 2001. She earned her Master Gardener certification. She planted many flowers and trees at her house. She would give some of her dried lavender and roses to her friends. She also took classes in multiple languages, e.g. French, Spanish, Italian and German, which she was studying at the time of her death. These languages were spoken in the many countries she traveled to during her life and she had Bibles in multiple languages.
 
As mentioned above, she traveled to many countries as well as places around the United States. She visited Ireland in 1998 and 2003. In 2008 she traveled to Italy. She celebrated her 50th birthday in France in 2015. She took the most trips to Germany. She planned her 2010 trip so that she would be able to attend the famous Oberammergau Passion Play which is only staged once every ten years and began in 1634. She loved to visit the Amana colonies and going shopping and eating at their family style restaurants. She particularly loved the sauerkraut. She collected magnets from all the places she visited and would bring home small souvenirs to give to friends.
 
Erica was an avid reader loving to go to book stores and holding library cards to libraries around the state. She was a student of history, especially World War II. She visited many presidential libraries, national monuments and museums. She was a fan of Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth as well as St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis. She was a diehard Iowa Hawkeyes and Chicago Bulls fan. In summer 1996, she drove to Chicago with her friend Theresa where they went to its China Town area, ate at Michael Jordan’s restaurant and visited the United Center and the Berto Center, which was the Bulls practice facility at the time. When they were at the Berto Center, a security guard approached them to ask what they were doing there. She was a knitter and crocheter who gifted friends some of her creations. She was a supporter of the arts attending many plays and concerts and buying merchandise from them. She would regularly attend the Des Moines Symphony’s annual Yankee Doodle Pops concert. She had a wide taste in music from classical and opera to Aretha Franklin. One of the first big things Erica bought was a piano. She was a supporter of small businesses as well. She was involved in monarch butterfly conservation and sponsored a paver at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Erica said when she was growing up in Singapore they would get some American shows on television but they weren’t consistent. When she came to the United States, she became a big fan of the Andy Griffith Show and some classic cartoons, especially the Peanuts holiday specials and The Grinch shows. She loved Halloween and Christmas and would often go to the Amana Colonies’ annual Prelude to Christmas event in early December.
 

She was preceded in death by her parents in Singapore. She is survived by her four siblings, Soon Bee Susie Ng (sister), Siow Meng Henry Ng (brother), Soo Lian Sherlin Ng (sister) and Sook Kiang Angie Ng (sister) and other family in Singapore. As well as her family in Singapore, she leaves behind many friends in Iowa and around the world.
 
Erica supported many charitable causes including Iowa Public Radio, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Wounded Warriors Project and The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, to name only a few. In her spirit of giving, if you would like to make a donation in Erica’s memory, we suggest contributions to the Ankeny Kirkendall Library, Reiman Gardens (Ames, Iowa,) the Susan G. Komen Foundation or a charity of your choice you think would mean something to her.

We know this is a long obituary, but Erica lived a very full life in the too short years she was with us. The world is a better place for her having been in it and she is missed.

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