Pranee Yesuwan Ruchirat died with loving immediate family around her on Dec. 25, 2022 at University
of Washington Medical Center at Montlake in Seattle, WA. She was 81.
She was born Pranee Yesuwan on June 1, 1941, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to her parents Kasem and Bua
Khiao Yesuwan. She was the eighth of 10 children.
She attended Dara Academy in Chiang Mai and was the first of her family to attend and graduate from
the esteemed Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, with a degree in Education. She taught
English and other subjects and then eventually worked for the United States Air Force Bangkok station in data processing as a keypunch operator. Pranee eventually traveled to Seattle, Washington, in the late 1960s where she met Peter Niraj Ruchirat. They were married in 1970 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Seattle. They lived in Montlake and then moved to Bothell, WA, in 1977, where they maintained a family home until 2017, when Peter passed away.
While raising a family, Pranee continued to work in data processing and controls for the King County
Courthouse and the University of Washington. She and Peter eventually had multiple entrepreneurial
ventures including importing Thai handicrafts and art, owning and managing a Thai restaurant, and for several years a wholesale fine jewelry business, where they attended gem and jewelry trade events
across the United States and internationally. Later, Pranee rounded out her career in retail at Fred
Meyer Fine Jewelers where she was consistently at the top in sales until her retirement in 2008. Pranee was always a strong, assertive, yet fun-loving woman. She practiced Theravada Buddhism, but supported Peter’s devout Catholicism and let her children be exposed to both and encouraged them to choose the faith or spirituality that suited them best.
She was heavily devoted to her birth family, and sponsored several of her nieces, nephews, siblings, and extended family to come to the United States as permanent residents, and eventually in many cases, citizens.
She loved all sorts of music including classical, and performers such as Elvis, The Beatles, and Sarah
Brightman. Pranee was quite the football fan as well, and not much piqued her enthusiasm more than
her favorite team, the Seattle Seahawks.
Pranee was an avid cook of delicious Thai food and delicacies. For decades, the Ruchirat family kitchen was the focal point of many delicious and memorable extended family celebrations and gatherings.
Pranee’s family believes she is reunited with her beloved ones who preceded her in death, including her husband Peter Ruchirat, her grandson Lucas Ruchirat, her sisters Umporn Ittikiatisak and Insom
Yesuwan, her niece Sunin Yesuwan, and so many others.
Pranee is survived by her daughter R. Nina Ruchirat and husband Michael Carnella; her son Irving
Ruchirat and wife Andrea; her son Mark Ruchirat; two grandchildren: Anthony and Evan Ruchirat; and
large branches of extended family.
A Buddhist merit dedication ceremony was held on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022 at Seattle Meditation
Center in Montlake Terrace, WA.
A Catholic burial service, where part of her cremated remains will be placed with her husband Peter, will take place on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023 at 11:30 am at Holyrood Catholic Cemetery, Section Q 520,205
Northeast 205th Street, Shoreline, WA 98155.
Another dedication ceremony will be in Chiang Mai, Thailand along the Ping River in February 2023.
All who loved Pranee are welcome to attend and celebrate Pranee’s life.
