Tien Thanh Nguyen, 88, of Dallas, Texas, passed away on October 25, 2019. He was born in Hue, Vietnam, on April 12, 1931. The oldest of nine children, he studied at the Redemptorist Seminary, a Catholic boys seminary school in Hue, Vietnam, where he sung in the choir and discovered a love for classical music and singing. After a few years at Seminary, he had to leave school and return home to work to help support his family. Before he could join the priesthood, war broke out and he was drafted to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Never one to shirk his duty and relishing the challenge of artillery school, he trained in Thu Duc, Vietnam, Oklahoma and Australia, bringing home tales of Americans, their big guns and bigger ties. Early in his military career, he was appointed to the Presidential Guard by the first president of Vietnam as they grew up together in adjacent Catholic villages in Central Vietnam. After leaving the Presidential Guard, he quickly rose in the ranks to Lieutenant Colonel.
He was married to Tiet Thi Nguyen on June 30, 1966. They met in the church choir and have two children, Tung Thanh Nguyen and Thanh-Chi Nguyen. The day the Vietnam war ended, he received a call from a US officer to get his family out of Vietnam. They drove to his office in the Navy shipyard, followed the Navy officers to the waiting fleet, and boarded a destroyer. All they had were the clothes on their backs as they sat on a piece of fabric on the deck of the ship. Eventually, the destroyer headed to the Philippines and they were transferred to another ship for the final voyage to Guam. Once in Guam, they lived in a tent as part of Operation New Life. They were later transferred to Fort Chaffee in Arkansas. After, Cuban Catholic families in Dallas, through Catholic Charities, agreed to sponsor Tien’s family, Tien moved his family to Dallas, Texas. Upon arriving in Dallas, he went to the tallest building in downtown Dallas, the Republic Bank building, and applied for a job. He was told, “We don’t have a job for a Colonel.” And he responded, “That’s ok, what job do you have?” And so he began working in the mail room at Republic Bank (now Bank of America). He stayed at the Bank, going to night school at the University of Texas at Dallas for his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and working his way up the ladder until he retired in the early 2000s.
He and his wife traveled all over the world and he never stopped learning, reading everything in his path. Often found gardening, he loved to take care of rose bushes and trees and watching them grow. He was an amazing son, brother, husband, father and grandfather. In his later years, he divided his time between Dallas and Austin, never wanting to miss any grandchild’s significant moments and enjoying the day to day activities of picking up grandkids from school and carting them to and from activities. He is remembered for his kindness, integrity, work ethic, sly wit and prankster heart, often breaking into peals of laughter at a joke or when caught trying to trick his grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his younger brother, younger sister, and parents. He is survived by his wife, six siblings, two children, and five grandchildren.
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