Dr. Van-Dat Nguyen

Dr. Van-Dat Nguyen passed away on March 28, 2026 at the age of 89 with his wife of 63 years at his side. He was born May 3, 1936 in Vietnam. He was one of 10 children. At the age of 19, he came to the United States on a scholarship to attend college at New York University, where he graduated with a degree in Meteorology in 1963. In the early 1960’s, as part of a small Vietnamese community in Manhattan, he met and fell in love with the love of his life, ToNga Ginette Cung. He courted her with poetry and music albums and rode the subway for over 2 hours to see her. They married in November 1962 in New York before returning to Vietnam for a traditional ceremony with their families.

The couple moved to Paris, France in 1963, where their daughter ToAnh was born in 1964. They lived in Paris for a short period of time before returning to the United States permanently in 1965. The family lived in Pacific Grove while he and Ginette worked at the Defense Language Institute; their son, Duc, was born in Carmel in 1966. The family eventually moved to San Jose with Ginette’s parents before settling in Saratoga, California in 1972. He went on to obtain three master’s degrees from San Jose State University (in Architecture, Meteorology and Engineering) and a doctorate from Menlo College in Engineering. He spent the majority of his career working as a nuclear safety engineer for General Electric. After the GE plant closed, he continued his career at Lawrence Livermore, Lockheed, and Stanford Research Institute before retiring.

In retirement, he took up ballroom dancing and piano. Dat and Ginette had monthly parties with their friend group where they shared great food and dance. His favorite activity was working in the yard and showing off his handyman skills. He enjoyed classical music and the opera and learned to play the piano in his later years. He and Ginette traveled frequently to France to visit their siblings and went on frequent cruises with their friends to places like Mexico and Hawaii. He had a great interest in soccer and tennis. In his prime, his tennis serve was clocked at close to 100 mph. He and Ginette remained active, taking yoga and tennis classes at the YMCA and West Valley College. He was also a strong swimmer and loved fishing. He passed his artistic talents on to his daughter and granddaughters and love of science and math to his son and grandsons. He taught his daughter and son how to drive and how to drive stick. Fluent in three languages, he enjoyed engaging in conversation about any topic, but by far his most favorite topic was his children and grandchildren. He is survived by his wife ToNga Ginette Nguyen, his children ToAnh Nguyen Crutchfield and Duc Nguyen, and his grandchildren Dennis Nguyen, Brian Nguyen, Thomas Nguyen, Simone Fong, and Naomi Fong.

For a livestream of Dr. Van-Dat Nguyen's services, please use this link: https://www.viewlogies.net/oak-hill/38HWuh43n?pin=610547