Thacker Nguyen1933 ~ 2013What war couldn't do, time did. Nguyen Ngoc THACH (also known as Thacker Nguyen) made his final Permanent Change of Station (PCS) on 16 November 2013, claimed by deteriorating health due to heart attacks. Born in Saigon, Viet Nam on 16 Aug 1933, he married Tran thi XUAN. They received 11 children into their home.Thach was an officer in the Republic of Viet Nam Air Force. He, his wife and youngest child, Hanh, immigrated to the United States on 8 May 1996. A gentle man of faith, Thach and his wife joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1970 at the large Bien Hoa military complex where they lived. Their association with LOS servicemen formed a bond of brotherhood that sustained his family during difficult times. On Pioneer Day (24 July) 1971, the American members of the LOS Bien Hoa Group promised they would never forget Thach and his family. They established a Project Temple toward a future date. Elder Marion D. Hanks completed that goal on 26 October 1996 at the Jordan River Temple. In 1985, Thach was designated Presiding Elder in Viet Nam with the responsibility of finding other members of the erstwhile Saigon Branch. Faithful to that task, he was instrumental in the success of the Church's representatives to return to Viet Nam.Preceded in death by his wife Xuan and two eldest children Mai and Toan. Although doctors did not think he would survive the heart attacks he suffered, he emphatically told them he had to stay alive until his eldest son Vu and family would come to America. Vu arrived on 25 Oct 2013; their reunion was tender. His children Nga, Vu, Quoc and Hanh and their families residing in Utah and Huong, Loan, Tuan, Kiet, Bao and their families in Viet Nam, survive Thach. His four children were with him the morning of his departure. Fourteen grandchildren continue the legacy of Thach and Xuan. Services celebrating Thach's life will be held Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013, at 2 p.m. at the Riverside 1st Ward, 500 North 1100 West in Salt Lake City.www.goffmortuary.com
