Alice Nguyen-Van-Tra Leonard

Alice Nguyen-Van-Tra Leonard died at age 83 in Chesapeake, Virginia, after forty years in Longwood. She died April 15, 2015, after a stroke. She was born in Vietnam in 1931 to Jean Toussaint Nguyen-Van-Tra and his wife, Anna Dang Thi Hue. She was a graduate of Lycee Marie Curie in Saigon and was a secretary for French government agencies: the Customs Office, Military Services, and the French Cultural Mission. She twice won the chamber of commerce typing contest in Saigon. She met her future husband in 1959 when he was the Dental Officer with the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Saigon. When he left Saigon, they never expected to meet again, but they corresponded and were married in December, 1961 in Seminole, Florida. She happily took on the role of a Navy wife and loving mother in Jacksonville, where her son David was born in 1962, in San Diego, where she taught Vietnamese language to naval personnel, in Bethesda, Maryland, where her son Jean-Paul was born in 1968, and in Puerto Rico and Orlando, where her husband retired from the Navy. She worked with him in his dental practice as office manager, assistant, and strong right hand until they retired in 2010. In 1969 she became a naturalized American citizen. She continually received compliments from friends and strangers for her style and fashionable appearance. She enjoyed trips to France to visit her family, creating wonderful memories. She is survived by her husband, Walter, son David, his wife Dawn and grandchildren Andrew, Brad, Dean, Noah, Nicholas, and Faith of Chesapeake, also son Jean-Paul Leonard, his wife Elana, and infant grandson Misha of Los Angeles, sister Laurence of Paris, brother Charles of Saigon, brother Henri of Honolulu, sister Therese Hickel of Paris, sister Leontine Schwitter of Germany, and many beloved nephews, nieces, and their children living in France and other countries. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother Maurice, and sisters Paulette, Agathe, and Catherine. The funeral mass will be at St. James Cathedral at 10 AM on Saturday, May 2 with Father John McCormick, rector, as celebrant. Reception will follow in the St. James Social Hall. Inurnment will be at a future date at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. She was profoundly grateful to the doctors who attended her during the trying last four years of her life, especially Joseph Covelli, MD, Ira Shafran, MD, Donald Centner, MD, Brian Fuselier, DDS, Wilbur Davis, DDS, and Grace Lin, Acupuncturist and DOM, in Florida, and Keith Espiritu, MD and Alan Keyes, MD in Virginia. Their compassionate care did all that could be done to alleviate her chronic pain. Arrangements are being handled by DeGusipe Funeral Home of Maitland, where visitation will be from 6 to 8 PM on Friday. Telephone 407-695-2273. In lieu of flowers, please consider a dontation to the Salvation Army (Orlando).

Alice Nguyen-Van-Tra Leonard

September 22, 1931 - April 15, 2015