Jean Tiên Pham Roy

Jean Tiên Pham Roy, age 58, of Manvel, Texas passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 2, 2022. She was surrounded by her husband Kurt, and her two children Jacob and Alyssa by her side. Throughout the day, Tiên waited for all her brothers and sisters to arrive to say goodbye. With her family at her side, she was ushered into the presence of Jesus as we all sang hymns of rejoice for her final journey.

Tiên (Jean) was born January 20, 1964 in Saigon, South Vietnam to Bố Biên and Mẹ Chinh Pham. Affectionately known as "Tũn", she was a twin with her sister Christina Hương, to whom she remained very close throughout her life. Growing up in a family of six children, Tiên was the fourth child. Besides her younger twin sister Hương, Tiên has an older sister Thuy, two older brothers Hoang and Chau and another younger sister Joann.

Her father was serving in the Army in the early years but was able to find a post in Saigon by the time Tiên and Hương came along. They all resided in a humble residential area next to Tân Định Market, and a stone’s throw from her grandmother and grandfather Nghiem Do’s house to where many families convened on weekends. With her grandmother having nine children, Tiên grew up surrounded by many cousins, aunts, and uncles. The relationships and bonds formed with her cousins through the many traditional Vietnamese family giỗ, Tết at a young age remained important to Tiên; she always made sure to participate in family gatherings and there were many through the years as her family grew with additions through weddings or became smaller when someone passes away.

Tiên went to a Catholic primary school in Saigon called Couvent Des Oiseaux and was there until all schools were halted and when Saigon fell in April 1975. Many of her families were airlifted out of the Tan Son Nhut airport by US Marine helicopters and flown out to the aircraft carriers in the China Sea that in turn took them to Subic Bay, Philippines and then onto the tent villages in Orote Point on Guam Island. From there after many interviews with the authorities, she and her family along with other aunts, uncles and cousins were flown to the US mainland to the Refugee Camp in Fort Chaffee, AK. After spending many weeks in the camp waiting, taking the first of many English classes that were taught there, Tiên and family hopped on a long bus ride to Lafayette, Indiana where they met the First Baptist Church sponsoring families, among the many Lafayette area church families that sponsored the 40 refugees from South Vietnam.

The family started to attend First Baptist Church in 1975 and the children all participated in Bible studies during weeknights and on Sundays. Tiên professed her faith in Christ and was baptized into the faith in the early 80s.

Tiên and all her siblings attended summer school in July 1975 with the hope to start school in the fall. Her father who attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Republic Army of Vietnam, became employed as a school custodian in the St. James Lutheran Church, where Tiên started 5th grade. Many evenings followed where her mother tutored Tiên and the other children in their various English, history assignments and such. With such humble beginnings, challenges, and obstacles in the beginning years in the U.S., Tiên went on to finish Tippecanoe Junior High then senior high at the Lafayette Jefferson High School. She showed an aptitude in math and graduated from Purdue University earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Math with a minor in Computer Science in 1987.

Tiên put her degree to good use with a career in software development, working for several different companies, beginning with her first job out of college at Transunion Credit Information Co. (now Transunion) in Chicago, Illinois where she met her future husband Kurt in a TSO CList class. Kurt arrived to the classroom just as the class was starting, and the only seat left was next to Tiên . When Kurt learned that Tiên was Vietnamese, he proceeded to talk about a book he was reading about the Vietnam war, a veritable MeetCute moment. Afterwards in the office, Tiên would frequently walk quickly past Kurt, who would always catch her out of the corner of his eye. Thus started a long courtship which blossomed into a beautiful marriage.

While in Chicago, she also held software developer positions at Loyal Medical and Sears where she was a loyal and trusted worker who always did excellent work.

In 1996, Tiên moved to Houston to be near her sister. A year later, Kurt followed his heart down to Houston where they became engaged and eventually married in 1998. During this time, Tiên and Kurt became members of Clear Lake Chinese Church, where both were involved with song leading for the English Fellowship services. Tiên so loved to research and pick out just the right songs to play. Many of the songs she chose became part of the church's repertoire of songs for services for many years.

Tiên was very active teaching Sunday School for all the little children at Clear Lake Chinese Church. Her classes were always very special, as she would find the cutest activities and crafts for the children to do to reinforce the Sunday school messages. She was also active in many summer VBS programs, teaching and leading the classes. Through these teachings, she planted the seed of the Lord into the hearts of multiple generations of children.

At MD Anderson Tiên started as a software developer, where she took on many different projects. In 2002, she took a hiatus for several years to help her parents care for her children, Jacob and Alyssa and her sister's children, Anthony and Caitlin. She would later return to work part-time at MD Anderson so that she could continue her career, but also be available to pick up the children after school and caring for them.

After Tiên returned to work, she decided to further her education by earning an MBA from Colorado Technical University, where she made excellent grades. She did this while caring for her family and attending to her career. After taking care of household chores, she would often be up until 3 or 4 in the morning studying for her MBA.

Tiên's passion was cooking and baking. She was an excellent cook, specializing in Vietnamese dishes, plus many other cuisines. She loved to make new things and share them at church during Home Blessings, family meals, and special occasions. Wherever she lived, she would cook and bake for the neighbors who always loved the many treats she shared with them. She was making cookies and cakes for the neighbors up to the very end of her life.

Tiên had a very big heart with deep compassion for all people suffering around her and in the world. She was a true servant of God, always serving others and caring for the homeless, always handing out money to them out on the street corners. She sponsored multiple children overseas through World Vision faithfully supporting them through monthly giving and writing letters to them. She also supported charitable giving to the church with her time and money and many Christian organizations over the years.

Tiên was a beautiful and loving wife and mother. Her priority was God and family in that order, and she was fully dedicated to serving them both. She gave her life to the family, always taking care of all their needs. She insisted on sharing her faith with them and instilling in them a love for God. She placed a heavy emphasis on education and ensured that her children always did their work diligently and to the best of their abilities. This is evident today with their achievements in academia, with Jacob graduating in Aerospace Engineering this May and Alyssa in college.

Tiên's life touched so many lives through all her years of serving our Lord, family and friends.

His Lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

Matthew 25:23

She is survived by her mother, Rebecca Chinh Pham, her loving husband Kurt, her children Jacob and Alyssa, and her brothers and sisters Thuy Liu, Hoang Pham, Chau Pham, Christina Nguyen, and Joann Lim.