Phuong Le Tran Thornton

Phuong Le Tran Thornton of Austin Texas passed away on November 18th, 2025 at the age of 60. She was born on December 17th, 1964 in Vietnam where she grew up surrounded by a large family. She came to the United States with her mother as a refugee following the war and settled in Austin, Texas where she lived the remainder of her life.

Phuong was a genuine person, loved life, laughed freely and gave generously. Her main focus in life was on her daughter Kelly. She made sure that Kelly had everything that she needed for a healthy, happy life.

She attended the University of Texas where she studied Chemistry before starting her career in the semiconductor industry where she spent over 40 years. She started as a technician in the fab before becoming an engineer in Product Engineering.

She is preceded in death by her father Meng Shu Liu, her mother Lai T. Tran, her brother Nguyen Pham in Vietnam and her first husband Steve Thornton.

She is survived by longtime partner Ron Dixon, her daughter Kelly Thornton, her brother Van Liu, her brother Quang Chanh Liu, her sister Lan Tieu in Virginia and her siblings in Vietnam Hai Pham, Dung Pham, Mai Pham as well as a very large extended family.

Family and friends are invited to attend a celebration of her life at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home on Saturday, December 20th, 2025 at 11:00am. Visitation with the family will be Friday December 19th, 2025 from 2pm to 7pm and also on Saturday December 20th, 2025 from 9am to 11am before the service.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in her honor to The American Cancer Society (cancer.org).