Somsanith Thao and her siblings grew up gardening for hours on their father’s farm. He always rewarded their hard work with a Whopper Jr. from Burger King after a long day in the field.
When their small, red Toyota pickup truck pulled into the fast food restaurant’s drive-thru window, Thao or one of her siblings had to place the order because their father, Zong Chue Thao, spoke little English. Their order? One or two Whopper Juniors that their father would divide among himself and the four to five children who were present.
“We didn’t have much growing up, but he would buy us a Whopper and he would split it into fourths, and we would have to share it with our siblings with Hmong food,” Thao, 27, said laughing. “Even though it was just one-fourth of a Whopper, we were very happy with the prize that we got for working so hard all day.”
Those memories inspired his family to serve Zong Chue Thao’s favorite American meal at his January 7 funeral service, so they ordered 400 Whopper Juniors from a Maplewood Burger King. The meal brought back fond memories for his children, and quickly went viral on Facebook when his daughter posted photos of the unusual addition to an otherwise traditional Hmong funeral.
“All my elders, like my cousins and my uncles, loved it. And all the younger ones loved it, especially,” Thao said. “A lot of my uncles were very proud of us for doing that. Then I heard a lot of stories of how other immigrant parents love Burger King growing up, too, and it just brings so much light to such a sad ceremony.”
It was the biggest order Sue Berthiaume, general manager of the Maplewood Burger King, has received in her nearly 40 years working at the burger chain.
“We were moving fast,” Berthiaume said of her team’s work fulfilling the order.
A healer and a farmer
Zong Chue Thao, 69, immigrated from Thailand in 1994 and settled in Fresno, California. He later moved his family to Minnesota in 1999, where he eventually settled in Vadnais Heights.
He spent most of his life in the United States farming vegetables such as peppers, green onions, and tomatoes that he sold at local farmers’ markets. He died on November 19 of last year, leaving behind three wives and 19 children.
Zong Chue was well-known in the Hmong community as a devoted Shaman who helped heal many Hmong people, said Sai Thao, adding that his father was soft-spoken.
Somsanith Thao said he was also a father figure to many relatives. Sai and Somsanith Thao described their father as hard-working, caring, and loving.
“He has helped heal and save so many people during his lifetime. From what I see, the majority of faces and people at the funeral were people that I have never seen before in my life,” Sai Thao said. “That just tells me how important my father was.”
Hundreds of people showed up at his three-day funeral service starting on January 6, where the Whopper Juniors were served alongside traditional Hmong fare during a special lunch that culturally honors the deceased by sharing a final meal with them before cutting ties in the mortal world.
Some of the guests were surprised by the burgers.
Zong Chue’s son, Sai Thao, recalled that one guest asked him, “Why did you order so many Whoppers? Is it because some people are tired of Hmong food?”
“It was one of his favorite foods when we came to the USA,” Sai Thao told the guest. “He never hesitated to eat a Whopper.”
When Zong Chue’s family started to plan the funeral and special lunch, they immediately knew that they wanted to serve Whopper Juniors to honor him.
“Even though it wasn’t traditional food, it was sentimental to us and it was sentimental to him,” Somsanith Thao said.
The family initially ordered 200 Whopper Juniors for the funeral, but after more guests than expected arrived on the first day, they went back to the Maplewood Burger King and ordered 200 more.
Berthiaume, the restaurant’s general manager, didn’t blink.
When Berthiaume received the first order a few days before the funeral started, she quickly created a game plan and ordered extra ingredients and had them shipped to her Burger King.
Four staff members, including Berthiaume, made all 400 burgers in about an hour and a half. They prepped some of the ingredients the night before and finished making the burgers in the morning. The burgers, which retail for $3.19 each, cost about $1,200.
“And that’s with them being [a] two for $5 special,” Berthiaume said with a laugh.
Burger King staff, including Berthiaume, personally delivered the burgers to the funeral.
‘It’s just the love, the thought’
Somsanith Thao published a Facebook post on January 10, with photos of funeral guests eating and grabbing the burgers, and included a description of the meal’s significance. Her post went viral in the Hmong community, garnering nearly 2,000 likes or reactions and more than 300 shares.
“When he was with us, Burger King was his favorite fast food. Everyone of us cried while eating it, reminiscing the times we each had to buy him one,” read her post, which thanked the staff at Burger King.
Her post was reshared by the Hmong American Experience Facebook page, which shares personal stories and news articles, where it earned about 1,000 more likes or reactions.
“I love that idea!” one person commented on the Hmong American Experience page. “The last meal should be a meaningful meal that you have shared together while the deceased was alive.”
“Way to go Burger King!” another person wrote.
Sai Thao said his father’s practice of slicing one or two Whopper Juniors like a pizza for his children taught them the value of loving each other and sharing with each other.
“It’s just the love, the thought. It’s not you being, ‘Oh, I’m more hungry than you, give me more.’ Or, ‘I’m less hungry, I’m gonna give you more.’ That’s not the reason,” he said. “That’s what touched me the most. When I saw my siblings, I told them, ‘Hey, you guys, I want you to each come grab one to remember dad.’”
On January 10, Somsanith, Sai, and their sister, Allison, dropped off cookies and a note of appreciation for the Maplewood Burger King staff at 2440 White Bear Avenue.
“We were in tears when they came in the other day,” Berthiaume said of the family’s visit. “I’ve lost my father, too, so seeing her be so grateful and thanking us for what we’ve done, I just appreciate that it meant so much to her family. I read the [Facebook] posts, too, and I’ve been sharing it with a lot of people… It was very, very heartfelt and emotional.”
Zong Chue’s love for the Whopper Jr. lasted long past his childrens’ youth. When Sai Thao joined his father for a burger as an adult—each eating their own—his father recalled the times he’d split a Whopper Jr. with him and his other children, and reflected on how far they had come.
Zong Chue loved the Whopper Jr. so much, his children said, Burger King was the first restaurant and only fast-food place they went to growing up.
“All of our sisters and brothers, when we were tasting that [it] brought us back to when we were little and sitting next to our dad and eating with him, and the anxiety of going through the drive-thru when you’re 10,” Somsanith Thao said. “I think that’s what we cherish and we’re gonna miss the most. It’s just that very moment of eating a small fourth of the Whopper while my dad is sitting there—that’s just what we will miss.”
