Nguyen Van Tran

TX. He was born on April 5th, 1942 in Ninh Binh, Viet Nam to Vien Cong Tran and Cay Thi

Tran. He had one older brother Trong Van Tran(deceased), one older sister Thom Thi

Tran(deceased), and a younger sister Hong Thi Tran (living in Vietnam).

Nguyen and his family narrowly escaped Vietnam in 1975 along with his relatives packed

onto his brother-in-law Trung’s fishing boat to get away from the Viet Cong and

communism. After a harrowing but fortunate journey at sea and later aided by the US

military, his family found refuge in the Philippines, then a short stay in Guam, and later made

their way to the USA at Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania, where they were provided with

medical care, food and housing. After some months there, Nguyen and family were

sponsored by the catholic community of St. Sylvester's Catholic Church. Thanks to the

overwhelming generosity of the Birko household from the church, Nguyen and family found

their first home and settled in Warren, Michigan.

As a young man, Nguyen enjoyed swimming, taking his whole family on fishing trips in Ohio,

playing volleyball, playing guitar, and playing dominoes with friends. He loved to socialize

with family and friends while enjoying good food with an ice cold Budweiser beer or two. He

had a sweet tooth and never declined any kind of dessert including cake, pie, cookies, ice

cream, and his all-time favorite Krispy Kreme hot glazed donuts!

Nguyen was a devout catholic and gave countless hours of community service for his

church wherever he lived. He first served as president of the small Vietnamese catholic

communities in the Detroit metro area. Nguyen, wife, and family moved to New Orleans in

1983 to be closer to his mother, siblings, cousins, and the many relatives who also

immigrated from Vietnam. At the Mary Queen of Vietnam Church in New Orleans East he

served as vice president of the parish and acted as group leader for the church groups

Legio-Maria and Cursillo.

After the devastation inflicted by hurricane Katrina in 2005, Nguyen and wife moved to

Arlington, Texas, and this is where they have resided since. He quickly found a new catholic

community at the Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church where he continued to serve and

participate in the various parish church groups.

Nguyen was a devoted family man, a kind loving husband, father, grandfather, and great

grandfather. He always had a quiet, modest, humble, patient, and calm demeanor, and

was well loved by all the people that crossed his path in life. He is survived by his loving

wife of 64 years, Tuoi, and 7 children (Rev. Francis Hung Long, Loan, Toan, Phuong, Hai,

Hang, and Hoan), 13 grandchildren (Xuan, Le An, David, Claire, Chloe, Amber, Josh, Tyler,

Vinh, Thu, Nick, Madeleine, and Hannah), and 2 great grandchildren (Harry and Artie)