Thi Khoai Nguyen

Faith, courage, strength of will, humor and resilience characterized the life of Maria Nguyen Thi Khoai.

Born on November 1, 1921, Maria Thi Khoai was the eldest daughter of a family of ten siblings. She spent her youth in the village of Van Quan, Thanh Oai District, Ha Dong province in the north of Vietnam.

As the eldest daughter, she left home in the 1950s to conduct a small business in northern Vietnam. Following the Geneva Conference dividing Vietnam into 2 separate entities on July 20, 1954, she relocated to Ha Noi Parish, Xom Moi village, An Nhon precinct, Go Vap district, Gia Dinh province. She operated a successful barber shop called Cong Nhan with her husband, Nguyen The Thau. In the following years, her family grew to include a daughter,Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram, and a son Nguyen The Thang. Her family was considered to be successful and well-to-do in the village.

Maria Thi Khoai was visiting her daughter in Vung Tau for the delivery of her second grandchild accompanied by her son and niece, Le Thi Dung, when the order to evacuate was made following the fall of Saigon. It was April 30th 1975. When her son-in-law, Nguyen Manh Hung, arranged for them to board a naval warship, she led her daughter, son, niece and 2 grandchildren in the fight through the frantic crowds to climb aboard the ship.

They underwent an arduous sea journey to Guam surviving overcrowding in the cramped ship’s quarters and lack of food and water. When Canada granted them citizenship, she had to accept what fate had decided for her, she was to start a new life without her husband, who had stayed behind. She settled in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and made it her new home with the family members who accompanied her.

Over the following 34 years, she led a life dedicated to her family and God. She helped her daughter raise her 4 grandchildren, Thu-Uyen, Manh-Tuyen, Manh-Chuyen, Thu-Quyen, from infancy to adulthood.

She was a parishionner of the Vietnamese Catholic parish in Montreal, “ La Communauté Catholique Vietnamienne de Montréal”. She never missed a mass and was an active member of the prayer group.

Despite all of the hardships she had faced in her life, Maria Thi Khoai’s strength of will and faith in God never wavered. Even when she became more frail and ill, her indomitable courage, faith in God, sense of humor and resilience shone through and inspired all of those around her.

She was called home to her Father’s Kingdom at 9h32am on March 2nd 2009 at the age of 88.

Maria Nguyen Thi Khoai, beloved sister, mother, aunt and grandmother, you are deeply missed by your family and friends.