Huong Thi Nguyen

Huong Thi Nguyen, super nurse, loyal friend and devoted mother, passed away on July 27, 2024 after a courageously fought battle. She was born on September 4, 1934 in what was once South Vietnam to a famously beautiful mother and a highly educated civil servant father. As the eldest daughter she helped raise her ten siblings in Saigon while simultaneously studying and graduating from nursing school at an early age. Fluent in English, French and some German she continued her studies in Pediatrics in Martigny, Switzerland and Pediatric Trauma in Montreal, Canada. Returning to Saigon she provided nursing care for the American Foreign Service, 2 French Hospitals: Clinique Saint-Paul and Grall, and 2 Chinese hospitals: Sung Ching and Quang Dong. Immigrating to the United States in 1975 she worked odd end jobs to support herself, eventually returning to nursing, working at Silicon Valley Medical Center, and finally finishing out her career serving our beloved veterans at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital. She later worked as a member of the Overseas Vietnamese Women's Association helping with voter outreach, community service and recognition of veterans. She is survived by her son Thien, 7 brothers and sisters, and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Sweet as sugar but tough as steel. Her hidden talent was the ability to creatively fix absolutely anything, from a broken shovel to a seemingly irreparable tattered shirt, mending and extending their lives just as she did for the people around her. She moved through this life gracefully independent yet always kept a childlike wonder.

Services will be held at Oak Hill Funeral Home in San Jose on Saturday, August 24, 2024 starting at 10am, with visitation/viewing from 12:30pm to 7:30pm, followed by a Buddhist cremation ceremony on August 25, 2024 at 9:30am. While flowers are welcome, her family asks anyone able and willing to donate their time or money to the Alzheimer’s Association to do so as a way to honor Huong and her lifetime of service.

https://www.alz.org