Hoa Huy Nguyen

Hoa Huy Nguyen, born March 23, 1944 in Vietnam to Nhung Nguyen and Bach Nguyen (both deceased).

When Mr. Nguyen was a boy, his parents migrated to Laos where his father took a job with a construction company. Military conflicts during the 1950's and 1960's caused Hoa to move from Hanoi to Saigon and finally to Laos. When asked several years ago if he were ever scared during that period, Mr. Nguyen replied, "Oh no, not scared. I was never scared." It was in Laos that he married Tinh Thi Nguyen, whose grandparents had migrated from Vietnam to a Christian village outside of Thakhek, Laos, where she and her siblings were raised. His wife died in 1973.

Mr. Nguyen learned the craft of heavy equipment mechanics which led to a job for the US consulate in Vientiane, Laos. In 1975 the United States offered Mr. Nguyen an opportunity to immigrate to the US, but the circumstances allowed him to bring only two of his three daughters. It was the love and support of his wife's family that brought his third daughter to Canada years later. Mr. Nguyen moved into the Reading area in September 1975 and was able to apply his skill as a heavy equipment mechanic, maintaining a fleet of trucks for a Coca-Cola distributor for many years. Mr. Nguyen will be honored as an honest and proud man who worked tirelessly for his family without regret in order for them to have opportunities beyond his own reach.

He will be forever in the loving memory of his three daughters: Lan Nguyen Fisher, Kim Nguyen and Souny "Am" Mengboupha and five grandchildren: Ethan Nguyen Fisher, Emily Victoria Fisher, Alfredo Rivera, Linus Rivera, Tyler Sean Mengboupha.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday at 7:15 p.m. in Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., 739 Penn Ave., West Reading. Friends may call from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. in the funeral home. Burial will be Saturday at 11 a.m. in Charles Evans Cemetery. Online condolences may be recorded at www.kuhnfuneralhome.com.