Obituary of Oanh Tran

Oanh Thi Tran, 92, of State College, PA peacefully passed away at home in her sleep in the early evening of Wednesday, January 29, 2014. Her family and her beloved puppy Turbo who slept faithfully by her side, were with her. She was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, the daughter of Phuong Van Tran and his wife Toan Thi Nguyen, on June 26, 1921. Her husband of 61 years, Binh Nguyen, her younger son, Douglas Nguyen, and eight siblings predecease her. She is survived by her three daughters: Kim and her husband Bernie Sherr; Huong Dang; and Chi and her husband Trang Chuong; her son: Tri and his wife Tuyet Nguyen; her brother Tuan Song Tran, and sister Nga Thi Tran; and 12 grandchildren: Lan and her husband Scott Lewis, Vanessa Sherr and her husband Terry Bennett, Trang, Paul, Mike, Diana, David, Alexander, Atheana, Christopher, Sarah and Taylor. She was a devoted wife to her Foreign Ambassador and English professor husband and mother to her five kids back in Saigon, Vietnam where they led a nice upper class existence before the fall of the Vietnam War. By the end of the war in 1975, she emigrated to the U.S. with her family to make a fresh start in a new land. She and her husband decided to plant roots in State College where for many years they worked long and hard and were the proud proprietors of a popular Asian grocery in the center of town called Kaye's Corner. Oanh was a soft spoken woman who was much loved by not only her family but by all those who came in contact with her on a daily basis as she sat behind the counter at the register manning the store day in and day out without fail. Her faithful devotion wasn't just to her unwavering work ethnic (she worked well into her late 70s), but was purely evident in her care for her family. She was a loving mother and an adoring grandmother. Oanh also was an amazing cook and when she wasn't working at the store, she was home whipping up feasts large enough to serve a small army! Food, laughter, and nights staying up late in a busy household filled with kids and grandchildren spending time with her family, were all the treasured moments of her long and well-lived life. She will be dearly missed and will be remembered in our hearts forever. Visiting hours at Koch's Funeral Home will be Saturday Feb.1st from 10:30-11:30. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.