Van Dang

Van Dang, wife of Tuan Pham (not the Astronaut), mother of 3, and grandma of 8. We shall not name all of her accomplishments because it's not possible to document. We suspect that she's usually behind the scene, secretly pulling all the strings while moonlighting as the caretaker of the ever growing family. Out of the many stories she used to tell, the most memorable was how people used to complimented that her handsome husband's face was even more beautiful than Tham Thuy Hang - considered the most beautiful woman in the country at the time. What a catch she was to receive his lifelong dedication (she didn't say this outloud). Be assured that it wasn't all about looks, but it's not time to enumerate his accomplishments yet because even though he's completely disoriented at the moment, he'll soon insist again that the best is yet to come.

Van is survived by her husband (Tuan) of 49 years. He was doting on her day and night, desperately trying to make it to the 50th year mark but unfortunately they fell short. He personally cared for her physical needs during her last days, easily more than he ever did for all of his children and grandchildren combined. However, he has always been the kids' favorite because he would never dote on them without her full time assistance. They were high school sweethearts, got married in 1976, became teachers together, almost died of famine together, immigrated to America in 1990 and started over from scratch.

Van is survived by her three absent children Thu (son/48), Van Thu (daughter/47), Thai (son/43). She cooked for big gatherings every Christmas to bring everyone together as well as spending her weekends cooking food then personally delivered them to their college dorms when her husband was busy with his DoorDash gig - driving her. However, the spouses of her children - Thuy Van, Kim Oanh, Vu - are very attentive and found every opportunity to usher her children together.

Van is survived by her four grandsons Thy(21), Thuyen(19), Thien(16), Justice(4) and four granddaughters Thanh(12), Hope(7), Ashland(11), Harmony(1). All but the youngest one loved grandma's cooking. Perhaps she slacked off there towards the end because it finally dawned on her that this wasn't just Mission Impossible, it's the Neverending Mission.

Van is survived by her brother Ban and sisters Quynh, Ngoc, Vinh, Chau.

She was the glue that held everyone together for a long time. When things fell off she would get her husband to Uber across the country to surprise inspect her children's families.

She invented some sort of Qi or Yoga, accomplishing physical feats like feeding 50 people at a time with a small kitchen, cooking an array of complicated dishes from scratch, and cleaning it all up without physical exertions. Perhaps this sort of efficiency bit her in towards end because she was physically frail all her life and she was not equipped to fight this battle against glioblastoma even with the full physical exertions of her husband. Dad still insists that they could defeat this monster, they just ran out of time.

We love you mom. Rest in Peace while you have the opportunity.

Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.