Cathy Thi Tai Nguyen, 77

June 17, 2014

Cathy Thi Tai Nguyen, 77, of Lancaster, passed away June 17 at Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ.

Cathy was born February 9, 1937 in Thu Duc, a suburb of Saigon, Vietnam and was the daughter of the late Nguyen Van Tranh and Le Thi Vi.

Cathy moved to the U.S. in 1965, in Washington, D.C., where she met and married the late Lt. General Nguyen Chanh Thi (of the Army of South Vietnam), who passed in Lancaster in 2007.
She worked in the restaurant business for many years, but her most significant role was that of helping refugees and immigrants from Vietnam adjust to their new lives in the United States.

At the end of the war in Vietnam in 1975, she and her husband relocated to El Dorado, Arkansas – one of the national refugee centers set up by the U.S. government for refugees from South Vietnam. There, she and her husband helped settle family members and other refugees into life in the United States. This work included finding them their first jobs, helping them apply for school, translating during doctor’s visits, opening bank accounts, and securing residences.

After three years in Arkansas, they relocated to Lancaster, where they continued their work helping refugees from Vietnam adjust to life in America. A devout Catholic, Cathy was a pillar of the Vietnamese Catholic community in Lancaster because of her work helping newly arrived families.

Another priority for her was sending as much financial assistance as possible to families in Vietnam as well as funds for helping to build infrastructure in villages there.

She loved gardening, poetry and cooking authentic Vietnamese cuisine with ingredients grown in her backyard.

She worked in the restaurant business in Washington D.C., owned and operated a café in El Dorado, and worked for RCA in Lancaster, but it was her work with Vietnamese immigrants and the local Vietnamese Catholic community that was her proudest role.

Cathy is survived by her daughter Pauline Thi Anh Thu Nguyen and her husband, Matthew Kalafat, of Scotch Plains, NJ; stepson Loc Nguyen and his wife Amy of Warren, NJ; stepson Minh Nguyen of Hawaii; stepson Hien Nguyen and his wife Mae of Flemington, NJ; stepdaughter Yen Gates and her husband Steve of Summerfield, NC; stepson Vinh Nguyen and his wife Hue of Houston; and 11 grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 AM Friday, June 20, 2014 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, 501 E. Orange Street, Lancaster, with the Rev. Hoa Nguyen as Celebrant. Friends will be received at the church one hour prior to the service. Burial will be private at the convenience of the family.

In lieu of flowers, her family is asking for donations to a fund that will install clean water pumps in rural Vietnam. Checks should be made payable to Thi Nguyen and sent to 2223 Pine Terrace, Scotch Plains, NJ 07076. Please note “Ngon Nuoc Song” on the memo line.