Thanh Kim Nguyen was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend. She passed away peacefully on the morning of September 2, 2024, in bed, at home, surrounded by all her favorite things and people.

Thanh was born on June 25, 1950 in a rural village in South Vietnam. She was one of 8 children and grew up in a time and place where education for girls was considered useless. She was not allowed to go to school and never learned to read or write.  Despite her lack of formal education, she was smart and resourceful, with a quick wit and funny retorts. She was the life of every party, always smiling, always gracious. Her lack of education always bothered her and she was determined that her five daughters would not suffer the same fate. She pushed education on her daughters and made sure that each one earned a college degree. Her proudest moments were seeing them graduate with their degrees.

She was braver than most people have to be. She and her husband left Vietnam after the Vietnam War with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and five small children (while also pregnant with her youngest daughter). Together, they moved to a new country, started fresh with absolutely nothing and worked hard to support all six kids through college.

She loved her family fiercely and would do anything for them. Her language of love was food. She loved feeding people. She was a phenomenal cook. She would spend hours cooking and preparing the most delicious food (her specialty was her egg rolls) to every event and celebration. She loved hearing how amazing her food was and would bask in seeing how much people enjoyed it.  Looking through her photos, in most she was always surrounded by lots of food at various celebrations. She doted on her family. Her birthday wish every year was simply to be surrounded by her family. We will miss her bright smile and beautiful presence.

Thanh is survived by her husband of 52 years, Thuan Chi Nguyen; her six children, Tiffaniee Nguyen, Jacklyn Nguyen, Diep Nguyen, Vien Nguyen, Phuong Fingerman, and Tara Greene; her four grandchildren, Jackson Fingerman, Cara Fingerman, Kaityln Greene, and Jason Greene; and her two younger brothers, Thanh Nguyen & Tam Nguyen.

The family requests any memorial contributions be made to Tam Tu Metta Buddhist Temple (mettatamtu.org) in lieu of flowers.