Kim Cuc Thi Ho's Obituary
Mrs. Ho thi kim Cuc was born in Quang Ngai, Central Vietnam. Being the youngest child, she had a brother and four sisters before her. Her mother died giving her birth. Orphaned at a very young age, she lived with her extended Ho family before moving to Hue, Central Vietnam to join her eldest brother to go to school.She met her future husband in Hue in 1946 and after some arrangements between the two families, they married. A year later, Mrs. Cuc gave birth to her first child, a beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately, the baby died after only one month.Her oldest son was born two years later and his eight siblings followed after she and her husband, fearing for their safety under constant threat by the Vietcong, had to uproot and move to Qui Nhon.Here, the husband taught public schools. Because of his modest salary, Mrs.Cuc had to become the family’s main breadwinner. A hard working woman, she woke up at dawn and did not return home until dark, every day. Every cent she earned, she saved for or spent on her children. She hardly spent on herself. She ate simple food, wore simple clothes and almost never had a vacation. She often said, “My ultimate dream is to buy each of my children a house.”In 1972, as the Vietnam war raged on, the family moved farther South to Saigon. After the 1975 Communists takeover, they confiscated properties right and left. The family lost everything in this grand theft and had to move into a tiny house living in cramped quarter.For the next six years, Mrs. Cuc tried and tried, one attempt after another, to sneak her children out of the country. To them, she declared, “If you are blessed to reach shore, you can start a new life. Should you not, you will be buried in the bottom of the sea. But you must leave at all cost for a better life.” After several attempts, they all eventually escaped the Communist hell and safely reached freedom. However, the regime made sure the parents paid a high price for that.The happy day came in 1989 when Mrs. Cuc and her husband reunited with their children in America. She then was very content to live a peaceful life among her children and soon grand children but at times felt the anguish and frustration for being unable to help out her children’s families in economic hardship. A capable, enterprising woman was now reduced to a helpless old person standing on the sideline watching her children swimming in strong tides but being unable to throw in a lifeline.September eleven at 4PM, Mrs. Cuc left the Earth peacefully, leaving behind the husband with whom she shared her entire adult life of seventy years and loving children and grand children. She is loved and will be missed by all.
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