Liem Vu's Obituary
Mrs. Liem Do Vu, 94, a long-time resident of Methuen, passed away on September 7, 2019 at the Sutton Hill Center in North Andover. Loved ones from across the country and France were there to say goodbye.
Mrs. Vu was born in 1925 and grew up on her family farm in Northern Vietnam, where she was one of eleven children to the late Nghi Van Do and Le Thi Hue. In 1945, Mrs. Vu married Mr. Dao Thuc Vu, who later worked as a translator at the US Embassy in Saigon. They had seven children together, and, in 1975, Mrs. Vu fled Vietnam and immigrated to the US with her family.
Despite her limited English, Mrs. Vu completed training and excelled in her job as a lab assistant at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She also worked in various shorter-term jobs, including sewing shoes and teaching cooking, until she moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts with her husband and retired.
In retirement, Mrs. Vu became an active member of the growing Vietnamese immigrant community of the Merrimack Valley. She helped found the Lumbini Temple, which is the first Buddhist temple in the area. She was later elected the first female President of the Merrimack Valley Vietnamese Elders Association. She participated in countless cultural and social events for over two decades. Throughout this time, she always made sure to send money to help support the small farming town where she grew up.
Mrs. Vu was an avid gardener; roses were her favorite flower. She loved to recite poetry by heart and wrote long poems about missing her mother and childhood home. Above all else, Mrs. Vu loved her husband of over 50 years, and she loved spending time with her family.
Mrs. Vu is survived by five beloved children: her daughter Huyen Bauknecht of Madison, Wisconsin; her daughter, Kim Hao Vu and her husband Lien Hy of France, her daughter Kim Fohlin of Weatherfield, Connecticut; her daughter Thuy-Loc Vu of Methuen, and; her son Thanh Dat Vu and his wife Trinh Le of Salem, NH. She was the proud grandmother of ten grandchildren and the great-grandmother of thirteen. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband Dao Thuc Vu, two of her children, Diem Vu and Hoan Vu, and her grandchild, Chuong Quang Dam. We know she is happy to be reunited with them.
Friends, family and members of the public are cordially invited to attend the following events this week:
Visitation for Liem will be held on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 & Thursday, September 12, 2019 from 3 – 9 PM at the Lumbini Buddhist Temple, 79 Margin Street, Lawrence.
Funeral Service on Friday, September 13, 2019 10:00 AM at the Lumbini Buddhist Temple.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Mrs. Vu's memory to either the Lumbini Buddhist Temple, 79 Margin Street, Lawrence, MA 01841 or to the nonprofit, Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley, 280 Merrimack St., Suite 400, Lawrence, MA 01843. The Kenneth H. Pollard Funeral Home is proud to serve the Vu family now, as it did for Mrs. Vu's husband over fifteen years ago.
What’s your fondest memory of Liem?
What’s a lesson you learned from Liem?
Share a story where Liem's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Liem you’ll never forget.
How did Liem make you smile?