Tue Doan Nguyen (Doan Thi Tue)

Surrounded by family, our beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother Tue Doan Nguyen peacefully departed from this earth on the 10th of December 2022 and will be fiercely missed by her surviving family: her six children: Ly (Van) Nguyen, Chau (Charlie) Gaziano Sifka, Man (Lien) Nguyen, Thuy (Jorge) Nguyen Gonzalez, Hung (Jami) Nguyen, and Lan (Joe) Nguyen Shafer; 12 grandchildren: Chris, Casey, Michelle, Gina, Katherine, Tiffany, Paul, Alex, Nicky, Adriana, Jaci, and Jordan; 1 great- granddaughter, Junia, and her ex-husband, Thuyet Nguyen.

Tue was born September 3, 1931 in a northern village of Vietnam as the second youngest of ten children. At a very young age, she was inspired by a Catholic family she befriended in her village and converted from her family’s Buddhist upbringing to Catholicism. When the civil war broke out in 1954, she fled from the Communist North to the Democratic South of Vietnam with her husband and 1-day-old newborn, Ly. Knowing the end of the war was near, she worked tirelessly to get employment with the US Army base and ensured her family’s safety as one of the first 100 Vietnamese families to be processed as refugees at Fort Chaffee Army Base sponsored by the Catholic Church Diocese in Joliet, IL in 1975. There she rebuilt her life and legacy as part of the American Dream. With almost no education in English or technology, she succeeded in getting a job at Compaq in Houston and, through her extraordinary work ethic and business savvy, rose quickly from a line worker assembling PCs to lead supervisor of quality control, where her coworkers affectionately dubbed her “Mama Tue”.

Tue was many things throughout her long life: an entrepreneur at heart who helped finance microloans for her community in Vietnam, a beloved neighbor at her residency at St. Marks who enjoyed gardening and the beauty of nature through daily walks, and a devoted daughter and ambassador for the Kingdom of God who inspired everyone around her to live with grace, obedience, and compassion for all. She was a tough-as-nails matriarch who has been and will forever continue to be the heart and soul of our family. The impact of her love and teachings will be felt through following generations, and with reverence and admiration, we will continue to share stories of this courageous, spirited, devoted, and truly remarkable woman.

Until we meet again in heaven, God bless Tue and keep her. God shines his glory upon her and comforts those of us who are left behind. God moves Heaven and Earth and gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to save us by faith for an eternal life with Him. With hope and expectancy, we look for Jesus to come again and raise us all to him in the new Heaven to reign with Him soon.

A funeral mass for Tue will be held Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 10:00 AM at St. William Catholic Church, 2300 Frederica Road, St. Simons Island, Georgia 31522. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.edomillerandsons.com for the Nguyen (Doan Thi Tue) family. In lieu of flowers, please make donations for masses to St. William Catholic Church at 912-638-2647. Thank you.