Truyen Van Nguyen

Truyen Nguyen passed away peacefully in Seattle, WA during the Friday evening of December 16th. He was 86 years old. Thang Nguyen, his fourth oldest son, was by his bedside as he took his last breath. A former Vietnamese national, he was born and raised Hoa Vang City, Vietnam. He was the oldest of six children born to the late Mr and Mrs Kinh Nguyen and Luan T Nguyen and was the beloved husband of Go Nguyen for over 66 years.

Growing up in a poor family, the oldest of a family of 5 brothers and a sister, Truyen started working at an age of 12. He was able to support his education and family by working many jobs as well as tutoring the students from wealthy families. Despite of the many financial hardships early on in life, and endless sacrifices to make ends meet, Truyen still managed to finish with a High School diploma, a considering feat at his time. With a very devoted and supportive and loving wife, he went on to establish a Phuc Hoa Co., which he was able to expand to over six different cities, including Saigon. An enterprise with over 200 employees, Phuc Hoa operated in the areas of import-export, including that of gasoline, tobacco, wines and as well as of the many collections of real estate developments through out the country covering from Da Nang to Saigon. Truyen worked tirelessly and endlessly many long hours and was able to establish himself as one of the most prominent and recognizable business leaders in the region. There are recounted stories of his exemplary character, business acumen, and un-conditional kindness to all those who worked with and for him. Most importantly, his selfless devotions to his family and his children . One of his favorite pastimes were to spend countless and meaningful time with his kids and to share life stories and at the same time, he also found ways to instill the values of higher education to each of his kids, sadly something he was not offered much of a choice growing up to fulfill in an advanced degree for his own education. Despite his many successes, to him, the only thing that mattered the most was to nurture his children and a large family with grandkids for their futures one by one and that was what deeply engrained in his heart and soul every day. Even with all the hectic daily business routine he was going through, he valued highly a simple lifestyle that he would also want his children and grandchildren to follow. One of his quotes was, “the outside of us, like an cover of a book, is not important and does not last; only the inside of us, on the other hand, is the most important and will last as long as we live.”

After the conclusion of the war in Vietnam, and subsequent change of government policies, he was listed among the top businessmen and was the first to be sent to prison all due to his vast of wealth and his company to be nationalized. One of his darkest moments came during his imprisonment was that he was not able to say goodbye to two of his younger brothers who died a few months apart due to natural causes. After a year in detention, his business operations and family holdings were liquidated and transferred to state control. Shortly after, Truyen, his wife and his 13 children joined one of the many “Boat People” to escape from the communist regime and travel on makeshift boats, where his family landed in various refugee camps in the Malaysia. Afterwards, Truyen’s family immigrated to the United States of America to start a new life and rebuild.

Always a dedicated father devoted to his family, Truyen devoted the rest of his life mentoring his children and grandchildren. Truyen will forever be remembered by his dedicated wife, devoted children Khanh, Hoa, Binh, Thang, Dinh, Tri, Phuc, Hanh, Phuong, Dung, Dong, Kha and Lan, his 31 devoted grandchildren, and treasured 21 great grandchildren, along with countless other friends and family whom were blessed to know him.

Friends and family are invited to attend a viewing and public visitation service on Thursday, December 22 at 12 noon to 6pm and burial on Friday December 23 at 12 noon to 3pm at Greenwood Memorial, 350 Monroe Avenue Northeast, Renton, WA, (425) 255-1511.

On behalf of the family, we are truly sorry for any inconvenience that may arise during this difficult time and ask for your understanding and support. Thank you.

Arrangements under the direction of Greenwood Funeral Home, Renton, WA.