Christopher Tho Quang Luong

California - Christopher Luong Quang Tho, 89, passed away Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at his residence in La Cañada, California following a minor stroke.

He leaves his wife of 60 years, Ha Thi Buoi; and six children, Teresa Thu Huong Zobrist (Luong Thi Thu Huong) and her family, Odette Eng (Luong Thi Thanh Xuan) and her family, Tuan Luong (Luong Minh Tuan) and his family, Eric Luong (Luong Minh Thoi) and his family, Natalie Luong-Weeks (Luong Thi Ha Thanh) and her family, Cathy Isturiz (Luong Thi Hai Yen) and her family and many close relatives and friends.

Born and raised in Vietnam, the son of Luong Khai Phuoc and Do Thi Chan, he was an accomplished Maritime Officer and sailed all over Indochina before settling in the United States.

In 1948, Captain Tho graduated from the Naval Academy of Vietnam in 1948, two years before the Academy was turned over to the Vietnamese government by the French. He sailed as an officer on Alexandre De Rhodes and became Second Captain in 1950. In 1954, with the French pulling out of the country, Vietnam had its first ship, Nguyen Van Bay, and Captain Tho commanded the ship as Second Captain on its maiden voyage in Indochina together with his officers Nguyen Duc Nhon and Bui Ngoc Huong.

In 1956, Captain Tho taught as a professor of Navigation at the Vietnamese Naval Academy and in 1958, he became the first naval Pilot of the River of Saigon to replace the French pilots who were pulling out of Vietnam. As Pilot of Commission, he managed, developed and guided the Company of Pilots of the Saigon River for over 17 years. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, he sailed under the French Marine Merchant for 10 years before settling in Houston as Port Captain of Houston. When he retired in 1990, he joined his family in California and dedicated the rest of his life to his grandchildren.

He was an avid tennis player and his love for the game brought him a lot of joy, laughter and gave him many friends wherever he went. He loved watching football but his favorite past time was to visit his grandchildren, watch them grow, attend their piano recitals, be there for them after school whenever he can, and give them heart-warming hugs.

Let us remember him always.

I am with you still
I give you this one thought to keep
I am with you still - do not weep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the softly falling snow
I am the gentle showers of rain
I am the fields of ripening grain
I am in the morning hush
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight
I am the star shine of the night
I am in the flowers that bloom
I am in a quiet room
I am the birds that sing
I am in each lovely thing
Do not think of me as gone -
I am with you still - in each new dawn.
-Mary Elizabeth Frye