Minh Thi Nguyen

Doctor Minh Thi Nguyen, 74, died Saturday, May 28, 2016, at Christus Santa Rosa Westover Hills Hospital, San Antonio, Texas, after a 3 ½ month battle with a torn aorta. She put up an amazing fight her last 3 1/2 months as she battled with a broken left wrist, a torn aorta that required emergency surgery, a repeat surgery for a graft infection, a plastic surgery closure of her sternum, a surgery to insert a breathing tube in her neck, dialysis, and endoscopy to stop bleeding she was experiencing. She was tough as nails her entire life and put up an amazing fight to the end.

Doctor Minh Thi Nguyen was born July 5, 1941, to Nguu Quan and Ba Thi Nguyen in My Tho, Vietnam. At the age of 18 she traveled to Brussels, Belgium, to continue her education. She completed Medical School, Internal Medicine Residency, and a Pulmonary Medicine Fellowship in Brussels, Belgium. She practiced as a pulmonologist in Brussels for more than 30 years. She raised her two children as a single parent and subsequently paved the way for them to pursue their education in Austin, Texas. She was a devout Catholic, attending Notre Dame du Sablon in Brussels, Belgium, and upon retiring in Austin she attended St. Albert the Great Catholic Church. She had an immense passion for education and learning. Upon retiring in Austin, she became fluent in English by attending classes at Austin Community College, The University of Texas at Austin International Office CELTA Program, Catholic Church ESL, and First United Methodist Church ESL.

Dr. Minh Thi Nguyen was preceded in death by her father, Nguu Quan Nguyen and will be buried near his plot in Austin. She is survived by her mother, Ba Thi Nguyen, who is 96 years old, her son Patrick Nguyen, MD, who is a general surgeon, and his two daughters, Hana Nguyen 6 and Natalie Nguyen 7, her estranged daughter, Phuong Nguyen, DDS, and her two children, her sisters Nguyet Nguyen and Thao Bellande and her brothers Sang Nguyen, Trong Nguyen, Loc Nguyen, Cuong Nguyen, Huy Nguyen and Hoang Nguyen. In addition, she leaves behind her close friends from her time in Brussels, St. Albert the Great Catholic Church as well as her friends and classmates from the First United Methodist Church ESL Classes and Catholic Church ESL Classes.

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