Monghai Thi Ta

Memorial services will be held at Goodbody Mortuary at 5027 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115 from 9 am to 2 pm on October 3, 2022.

MongHai Ta is survived by her husband, Andy Vu Pham, of Oceanside, two sisters, MyDung Ta of San Jose CA, and LeThu Ta of San Jose CA, three brothers, Viet Ta of Lake Forest CA, DuyDung Ta of San Jose CA, and Long Ta of Fallbrook CA, and her mother Nghia Ta of Lake Forest CA. She was preceded in death by her father Sep Ta.

MongHai Ta was born on March 26, 1960 and raised in Saigon, Vietnam. While growing up, she was helpful to her parents in the home and a serious student at school. She graduated from high school earning her diploma.

Her family originally came from North Vietnam. In 1955 her parents escaped from the Communist regime in the North by way of the U.S. Navy’s humanitarian Operation Passage to Freedom. They settled in Saigon, Vietnam, established a home and family, and ran a successful tire importing business there.

After the fall of Saigon to the Communists in 1975, her parents were determined to have all of their children leave that country.

MongHai was one of the “boat people” refugees of 1979. To get a place on a boat, she mingled among the Chinese who were leaving Vietnam and returning to their homeland of China by order of Vietnam’s Communist regime.

For a year MongHai had to cope with life and death situations in a constant struggle to survive in the refugee camps in Indonesia. Finally, in 1980 MongHai arrived in the USA and reunited with her three brothers and younger sister.

Now in the USA, unable to speak a word of English, and having no job skills, she studied and worked hard, became fluent in English, and in 1986 graduated from Cal State University in Sacramento with a B.S. degree in Computer Science and a minor in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. She then went to work as a software engineer for Silicon Graphics and several other companies in Silicon Valley.

In 1984 while attending university in Sacramento, she met her future husband, Andy Vu Pham, in the computer lab for a database design class they were both taking. In 1987, after both MongHai and Andy graduated from university, they were married. They then moved to San Jose, established their life together, and advanced in their careers.

While living in San Jose, MongHai made a lifelong commitment to uphold the Five Buddhist Precepts. She was a vegan for 32 years, and she supported the humanitarian activities of the Ching Hai international association.

In 2005 MongHai and her husband moved to Oceanside near San Diego.

In 2008 MongHai and her husband opened a Loving Hut vegan restaurant in Huntington Beach with the goal of “reducing the killing of animals on this earth”. They operated the restaurant until 2012.

From 2013 until her untimely death in 2022, MongHai worked as an independent web designer and investor, and she remained active with the Ching Hai meditation association.

Even though MongHai throughout her life had to suffer many difficulties and setbacks, she persisted and never gave up pursuing her vision of a peaceful world in which humanity lives in peace with all living beings. Through the many overwhelming and sometimes terrifying challenges she had to face, she maintained an irrepressible, positive outlook and commitment to her noble ideals. Like a beautiful lotus flower rising out of the muddy swamp, MongHai lifted herself up out of humble and disadvantaged circumstances, achieved much in life, and radiated love, kindness, and generosity to all whom she knew and met.

MongHai passed away peacefully, in no pain, no fear, and in her very last moments, fully aware and smiling, with her husband Andy Vu Pham, her sister MyDung Ta, and her brother Long Ta by her side.