Gam Thi Thanh

It is with profound sorrow and deep love that we announce the passing of Gam Thi Thanh, a woman whose gentle spirit and unwavering faith touched the lives of all who knew her.

Gam was born on January 1st, 1941 in Ha Noi, Vietnam. Sadly, at the young age of three years old, her parents passed away, leaving her two older sisters to care for her. A local family eventually took Gam in and she was separated from her sisters. It was not until 1954 that Gam found her adoptive family and resided in Da Lat, where she cared for her many new siblings. In her late teens, she continued to devote herself to caring for children at a local orphanage, where she lived and worked for years. It was a calling that would continue to define her - an abundant love for children.

At the age of 22, she entered the convent where she spent two years in devoted religious life before physical limitations led her to return to her adoptive family. Though her time in the convent was brief, her faith never wavered and deepened with each passing year.

It was during this season of her life that fate brought her to a well at To Ong (Honeycomb) in Bui Phat province, where she and a young man named Bong, were both fetching water. From that simple moment, a love story began. Gam Thi Thanh and Bong Van Nguyen were united in marriage on April 24, 1974. It was from this union that Gam found her new family, one that she would go on to care for and be cared for by until her last breath. Though she never had children of her own, she became a cherished guardian and loving presence to every child in the family, adoring each one as her own.

Gam was, in every sense, an angel on earth. Selfless and kind-hearted, she lived devoted to God, to her husband Bong, and to her family. Her faith was unshakeable - each day she prayed at least one rosary as a testament to her faith. Her love was pure and unconditional. She never held a grudge, never carried anger, and met every person she encountered with compassion and grace. Gam had a gift for finding joy in the simplest of things, her smile always present and her spirit light.

Gam passed peacefully on Mother’s Day, a day that could not have been more fitting for a woman who nurtured and loved so many.

Gam Thanh was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Bong Van Nguyen; her adoptive parents, Xuan Au Thanh and Men Thị Tran; her father-in-law, Dang Van Nguyen; her mother-in-law, Chieu Thi Nguyen; her adoptive sister, Phương Lan; and her siblings-in-law, Khanh (Carlene) Nguyen, Kha (Cuc) Nguyen, and Mimi (Hoa) Nguyen.

She is survived by her adoptive siblings, Phuong Ngoc, Loan (Loi), Hung, Dung-John (Trang), Van-Tawny (Hiep), Quang, Thang (Huong Kim), Cong (Huong Thi), and Minh. She is also survived by her siblings-in-law Nga (Giang Do) Nguyen, Khoa (Tram) Nguyen, Khue (Debbie) Nguyen, Sam (Rhonda) Nguyen, and Mai-Lan (Julian) Brown, along with a loving extended family whose lives she touched immeasurably.

Rest in eternal peace, dear Bac Gam. Your love lives on in all of us.

A Mass of Christian Burial service will be held on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 10:30 AM at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Newton, Kansas. Burial will follow at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery. Friends may pay respects at a visitation the evening prior, Monday, May 18, 2026, from 5:00 to 9:00 PM at Petersen Funeral Home, Newton, Kansas. A Rosary will be said for Gam Monday evening at 6:30 PM in the funeral home chapel.

The family requests memorial donations be made to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, or the Catholic church of your choice, and a Mass said in honor of Gam's beautiful soul.