June 24, 1956 – September 5, 2021

Huong Tran Nguyen, a devoted wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend, died on September 5, 2021 at the age of 65. Huong was born in Vung Tau in 1956 to Bo Tran and Que Mach. She was the sixth child of ten children.

Huong was a caretaker. She left her vocational school in Vietnam a few years short of graduation to help care for her older sister’s two young sons. In 1975, at eighteen years old, she had the intention to staying in Vung Tau to care for her parents and youngest brother but was compelled to leave with only the clothes on her back. When she arrived in Santa Barbara, Huong worked as an assembler, helped operate the family restaurant and later went on to open a bakery in Long Beach.

Huong was a uniter. She would always bring family members together for birthdays, holidays and other special celebrations. She loved to host parties and rarely missed a family gathering. She was a social person. Even with COVID restrictions in place, Huong kept in touch and spoke to at least one of her eight living siblings nearly every day.

Huong was a fighter. In her early 30s, she was diagnosed with end stage renal disease. In 1988, she underwent kidney transplant surgery to implant the kidney given to her by her older sister. Ten years ago, Huong was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and at the same time, relapsed back to kidney failure. While waiting to be cleared for a second kidney transplant (she had to be in remission for at least five years), her doctors detected cancer cells and placed the transplant on hold. Since that time, Huong would wake up at 3 a.m., three times a week and drive herself to dialysis treatment. She did this up until the week of her death.

In 1979, Huong married Frank Tuan Nguyen, and they recently celebrated 42 years of marriage. They had one daughter, Tammy, whom Huong adored. Tammy survived brain surgery after a horrific car accident in college and went on to become a nurse for the VA Long Beach Healthcare System. Huong raised her niece, Kim An, like a second daughter. Kim An lost her birth mother as an infant and is now a rising senior at Cal State Fullerton. Amongst Huong’s greatest accomplishments was raising these two young women to be caretakers, uniters and fighters in her image.

Huong was a faithful wife, loving mother, supportive sister, caring aunt, and loyal friend. Her death has left a hole in all of our hearts. She will be greatly missed.

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