Letter to the Editor: Lexington Community from afar remembers "Sonny" Yson Buonya

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Uptown Lexington Mourns the Loss of a Friend

The early morning of Saturday, June 28th, the Lexington community woke to the news of the sudden passing of Yson Buonya or Sonny as everyone knew him as.

Every-time you entered the store you were with a smile on Sonny’s face and let me know if you all need anything. He would encourage kids to do what they enjoy in life. He encouraged my daughter to draw anime and liked her art work and was going to sell her artwork in his store. Sonny loved kids and would donate what he could to help in local fundraisers. Sonny would look out for his customers but especially children. I remember times where someone would donate a gaming system and Sonny would sell and give the money to a family in need. Sonny would make kids feel safe and told my kids and their friends if they were ever alone uptown and needed protection to come to him. My daughter refused to buy any retro game from none other than his shop. Sonny knew this and appreciated this.

Sonny had dreams of one day of having a food truck. I always heard he was a great cook and he promised me someday he would let me try something he made. Sonny worked hard most days he would be in his store from noon to 3am. He was always looking to improve his store and often asked his customers what they thought about the updates to his business.

Sonny not only helped his customers he also promoted and helped other local businesses and would often like local businesses social media posts and #localbusiness. If a customer asked for certain retro game items that he didn’t have he would direct them to Retro game shops in Thomasville, Winston-Salem or Mocksville. He would even call those businesses for the customer to see if they had those items.

We will miss the fist pumps when you left the store and see you soon.

The loss of Sonny leaves a gaping hole in our community and our hearts. If any of us had half the heart that Sonny had for people our community would be a much better place. Sonny will be missed by all, customers and local businesses but I think that we were all his friends and he didn’t know a stranger.

Scott Bannister