Minh Thi Bui

On a beautiful Saturday of March 23, 2019, when the cherry blossoms began to bloom, Minh Thi Bui has departed this world to join her husband Tan Van Mai as well as her son Tuan Anh Mai and her elder sister Hue Quang Bui. She leaves behind her daughter Dao Anh Mai and her son-in-law Huy Dinh Tran, her grandchildren: Anh-Thi Kelly Mai, Thien-An Nicholas Tran, Anh-Minh Alexander Tran and Nguyen-Dan Jennifer Tran, as well as her brothers and sisters: Man Quan Bui, Khuong Quan Bui, Lanh Thi Bui, Hien Thi Bui, Oanh Ngoc Bui, Ngoc Kim Bui and Hanh My Bui, as well as many nieces and lifelong friends. Born on April 8, 1028 and growing up in Long Xuyen, Viet Nam, Minh and her sister Hue Quang Bui were among the first few young women who attended Midwife School in Viet Nam. Minh had been a midwife working at Hung Vuong Hospital in Saigon, Vietnam for many years until she was airlifted from Tan Son Nhut Airport with her family and her sister Hue’s family and arrived in Honolulu, HI on May 1st, 1975. In the U.S., Minh went back to school to get her R.N degree and worked at Columbia Hospital for Women in the District of Columbia until she retired at age 65. Within a few years of her retirement, she succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease and then a subdural hematoma which left her disabled the rest of her life post evacuation. Minh had to leave behind her home and home town in her earlier years due to the war to escape the Viet-Minh after they took her and her sister away to be drowned but they were clandestinely released by an old friend in the Viet-Minh camp. Again Minh and her sister Hue left Viet Nam together with families under the sponsorship of Dr. Zherzavi, a Czechoslovakian born physician who worked for USAID. The two families were taken in by an old friend from the State Department, Gerald Patrick who helped them settle in the District of Columbia first. During her life, Minh has helped a lot of people even those she didn’t even know. One time, a patient in her hospital needed blood and was dying, Minh had given her own money to pay for the blood for the transfusion to save her life, not really knowing her well. Later her son, a South Vietnamese soldier came and bowed to her for saving his mom’s life while he was in combat. Minh never took revenge on people who did her wrong. When a woman in the neighborhood fell severely ill, Minh did not hesitate to pick the woman in her arms and carry her to the main street to get her in a taxi to take her to the hospital, not caring about having been insulted by her previously for no reason. Minh has always been generous with everyone around her. She always opened her arms to anyone who needed comfort and opened her purse for anyone in need. She was not rich but made sure her two children went to top schools in Viet Nam as well as excellent universities in the District of Columbia. Minh had many friends and had participated in the VNAH with Mr. Ca Van Tran until she was no longer able to. She spent the rest of her life at her daughter’s home in Fairfax, VA and the last eight years of her life under the tender care of Lieu Le, her devoted care taker and now her adopted daughter. Minh will rest in peace next to her husband Tan, her son Tuan and her parents Dau and Kim on the 30th of March 2019 in the fresh air of Spring.