Martin de Porres - Long Thanh Chau

On January 27, 1953, Long Thanh Chau was born in Hue, Vietnam, to Father Chau Van Trinh and Mother Buu Long. Long’s parents sent him to Hawaii to attend Maui College in 1971, then Texas A&M, where he studied engineering. After A&M, he worked at a construction company which eventually led to his own legacy, Custom Construction. During his career, he built some notable projects such as the Dun Huang Plaza, shopping centers in Pearland, warehouses in Katy, and multifamily units on Bellaire. Beyond the physical buildings, he helped flourish many peoples’ careers and developed life-long relationships and business partners.

The love story of Long Chau and Tuyet Chau began at a dinner party with the Nguyen family on Valentine’s Day in 1979. They dated, got engaged, and married in less than a year. Long and Tuyet is succeeded by their son Vu, their daughter Ashley, and their grandchild Alana. The most important thing to Long was family, so whenever one family would move from Alief to Sugar Land, everyone else followed because they had to spend countless Saturdays playing Sap Sam Cheung. Long was a very well-traveled man. He would take his family on yearly trips to South Padre Island and also several international trips to southeast Asia. Most recently, he took his family to Europe, where his son-in-law proposed to his daughter in Paris. Along with the sweet pastries and coffee, he enjoyed the beautiful landscape and architecture of Europe. Always seeking inspiration from everywhere he would visit, he brought ideas to life on the projects he worked on in Houston. Long inspired, touched, and motivated many. He dedicated his life to ensure the whole family flourished and acted as a father figure and role model to others. Even though he entered Heaven too early, his legacy lives on amongst us.