The memorial booklets for the late Rep. Hòa Nguyễn sat in a basket beside a bouquet of flowers, adorning a table near the chamber floor of the Oregon House of Representatives. A section titled “In Her Words” begins with a quote from author William Barclay: “There are two great days in a person’s life, the day we were born and the day we find out why?”

“This is a quote I like to share when I share my story as a leader,” Nguyễn wrote.

Her story was remembered on Monday, as Oregon lawmakers, friends and family gathered in the state Capitol in Salem to honor her life and service. Nguyễn died of cancer in October. She was 41.

Despite her modest upbringing as the oldest daughter of Vietnamese refugees, state leaders say Nguyễn rose to become a passionate advocate for children, a policymaker who bridged political divides, a leader with a rare mix of grace, curiosity and courage.

“Hòa came to service in the Oregon Legislature the way she came to everything in life,” Gov. Tina Kotek said during Monday’s ceremony, “with passion and purpose and an unshakeable commitment to other people.”

Nguyễn was one of five Vietnamese lawmakers who joined the Legislature in 2023. Her father worked in the fishing industry, her mother in a tie factory. A self-described “convenience store kid,” she lived with her family in the back of their store in rural Louisiana, working behind the counter after school.

“I was the ONLY Asian student in the school,” she wrote, according to the two-page autobiography in the memorial program. “I changed my name to be an American name, Theresa, because the name my grandpa gave me was too hard to pronounce.”

At 15, Nguyễn moved to Portland, “and the rest is history,” she wrote. She went on to work at Robert Gray Middle School and serve on the David Douglas School Board. She was elected twice but died during her second term. Children were a primary focus for the Democratic lawmaker.

She helped pass policies to tackle chronic absenteeism in schools and bolster childhood care and support for children with disabilities. In honor of her work, the state’s Department of Education is establishing an annual award for schools and districts that show the greatest improvement in attendance.

“She never for a moment lost sight of who she was fighting for,” said House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene.

Monday’s ceremony began with music, “Forever Young,” by Bob Dylan. Democratic Rep. April Dobson sang and Daniel Moltke, a lawyer and legislative chief of staff, played violin. Photos of Nguyễn’s life — a school yearbook photo among them — cycled along screens above the chamber floor, where dozens of lawmakers sat quietly. Some dotted their eyes with tissue or leaned their head against the other’s shoulder.

“At a moment when our country is deeply polarized, and where politics seems to be relentlessly dividing us, Hòa brought us together,” said House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard.

Lawmakers described their close relationship with Nguyễn, especially in the twilight of her life. Rep. Daniel Nguyễn, a Portland-area Democrat who moderated the ceremony, brought her Vietnamese food. Rep. Bobby Levy, a Republican from Echo, said she prayed with her over speaker during phone calls.

Sarah Arbuckle, Nguyễn’s chief of staff, spoke of a small notepad the late representative kept in her office with two phrases: “Meet me where I’m at” and “What is your why?”

“Hòa believed in me in a way that changed the course of my life,” said Arbuckle. “She saw potential in me long before I fully saw it in myself.”

Democratic Sen. Lisa Reynolds worked with Nguyễn on policies related to early childhood education and immigration. She remembered knocking on doors with Nguyễn when a young Vietnamese American man told them he didn’t bother voting because it didn’t seem to matter.

“Hòa then told him, in Vietnamese, that if he doesn’t vote, people who look like us, she said, will never get elected,” Reynolds said. “He nodded and promised to get his ballot in.”

Nguyễn was the second Oregon state lawmaker to die of cancer this year, following Sen. Aaron Woods, a 75-year-old former tech executive who died in April. In attendance on Monday was her father, Bo Lee Nguyễn, her aunt, Ha Trần, and her brother, Thuan “Tommy” Nguyễn.

Standing before the room full of lawmakers, Tommy Nguyễn shared that their mother survived cancer only months before his older sister’s diagnosis.

“Life has a cruel sense of timing sometimes,” he said.

Tommy Nguyễn recalled a childhood without “safety nets.” His older sister rang up customers and stocked shelves. That upbringing instilled a drive in his sister, he said, “a drive that never stops.”

“It changes the way you see the world and makes you want to fight for people who are still trying to find their footing, to build their version of a better life,” he said. “Hòa took that drive and brought it here.”

Tommy Nguyễn’s favorite memory with his older sister was on Cannon Beach, just after she had been sworn into the Legislature in 2023. Tommy Nguyễn noticed that his sister looked free for the first time in months, “maybe years.”

The weight of the campaign had fallen away. She was laughing, running, playing with her dog, Pepper, in the sand. He remembers thinking, “This is what it was all for, the freedom, this joy, this moment of being fully alive.”

“Even when cancer tried to steal that from her, she kept running,” he said. “She kept showing up. She continued to fight for those who needed her. That’s who she was.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/11/17/oregon-politics-rep-hoa-nguyen-city-council/