Nhung Tran-Davies

We share with sadness this message from Nhung’s family (posted on Facebook on April 29, 2026):

It is with the heaviest of hearts we pass along the saddest of news…
Nhung passed peacefully at sunset last evening with family around her. 😢
She fought this disease with braveness and stamina not many of us could fathom. She loved and appreciated everyone in their support, through this battle, and in life in general.
She is finally at peace for the first time in a long while.
Her final wishes were simple:
⁃ In lieu of flowers, that everyone plant flowers and make the world more beautiful, wherever you are.
⁃ In lieu of food, give to the food bank or someone truly in need, as was her way.
⁃ In lieu of gifts, please donate to CVBF, or any charity that helps the needy, and carry on her legacy of making the world a better place.

Nhung was a physician, author, mother of three, and an advocate for social justice in education. At the age of five, her family was sponsored to Canada as refugees from the Vietnam war. She wrote children’s stories that convey the humanity in our lives. Her books have been shortlisted for the Alberta Literary Award, Blue Spruce Award, and Red Maple Award.

She established the Children of Vietnam Benevolent Foundation to help provide hope and opportunities to impoverished children. She founded the Kemosa Scholarship for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Mothers Who Write to help effect positive changes in the community through the voices of indigenous mothers. She as well founded the Zyp Art Gallery to help support local artists and bring awareness to social issues through the arts.

She was awarded Alberta Venture magazine as one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People in 2014, RBC’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award in 2019, AFP’s Community Enrichment Award in 2021, and the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2023.