Madeleine Thuy Nguyen

Once you met Madeleine, it would be hard to forget her. Her laugh was infectious and she was always open and frank with you from the very first moment, making anyone feel like a close friend. Madeleine tried to live each day with joy and laughter, which required incredible strength and fortitude when you think about the many trials she lived through. As the eldest of 11 children, she led her family out of post-war Vietnam to start a new life in Montreal, Canada when she was just 23 years old. God brought her to her husband, John Nguyen, when they met at a refugee camp in Malaysia. They eventually married in Montreal and then settled down in Northern Virginia where they raised their three children, Julian, Dominique and Michele.

Madeleine’s life centered around her strong Catholic faith. She always spoke of her godfather, a Vietnamese missionary from Spain, who introduced her to and baptized her into the Catholic faith when she was a teenager and who eventually married her and John at their wedding. She also loved to talk about the Catholic nuns who helped her adjust to new life in Canada as a young adult and young mother. She always urged her children to trust in God whenever they faced adversity.

Madeleine passed away on the evening of December 27th, 2024, peacefully, at home and without pain, surrounded by her husband, three children and their spouses, and her grandchildren. The last thing she heard on this earth was her loved ones reciting the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.