Ha To Van (文志強, Man Zi Keong) passed peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Thursday, March 17th, 2022 in Richmond, Virginia at the age of 73. Ha was born October 9, 1948 in Saigon, Vietnam to parents Muoi To and Phuoc Van. In his hometown, he met his beautiful wife, Muoi Lang. They married in 1973.
At age 17, Ha enlisted in the South Vietnamese Navy and served valiantly during the Vietnam War from 1968-1975. Through a daring plan after the fall of Saigon, he brought his family and a total of 34 people to freedom, successfully escaping communist Vietnam in 1978. Through the sponsorship and volunteer help from Star of the Sea Catholic Church, the refugee family settled in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1979.
Ha thrived as a machinist at Metro Machine shipyard in Norfolk where he spent his entire 34-year career in America. He was an avid gardener, especially with growing fruit trees, and enjoyed home improvement. He loved spending time with family and friends, and nothing brought him greater pleasure than helping out his loved ones.
Ha Van is survived by his wife, Muoi Lang (凌玉蓮, Ling Yuklien); by his children Marcus, Lan, Paul and John; his daughters-in-law April and Sherry; his grandchildren Apollo, Julian, and Tristan; his four younger siblings Ha, Michael, Tai, and Anita; numerous nephews and nieces; and his mother Muoi.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Ha’s honor to non-profit organizations that focus on treating myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) blood cancer and providing refugee assistance. To facilitate this, we have established a GoFundMe page at: http://www.gofundme.com/f/celebrating-the-life-of-ha-van.
A visitation will be from 4-8pm on Friday, April 1, 2022 at Woodlawn Funeral Home at 6329 E Virginia Beach Blvd, Norfolk, Virginia 23502. A funeral service will be conducted at 1pm on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at the Woodlawn Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will immediately follow at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens.
Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.woodlawnnorfolk.com.
