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Sister Agnes Ly Thi Le, SNJM
December 18, 1938 – September 19, 2024
Sister Agnes Ly Thi Li, SNJM departed this life on September 19, 2024 in Seattle, Washington.
Sister Agnes Ly celebrated 85 years of life and 65 years of her religious profession.
A Mass of Resurrection was held Friday, September 27, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. at the Vietnamese Martyrs Church in Tukwila, Washington.
Agnes Ly Thi Le, SNJM
December 18, 1938 – September 19, 2024
Sister Agnes Ly Thi Le, SNJM died on September 19, at Harborview Hospital in Seattle. She was companioned during her final hours by our Sisters and her close friends. She was 85 years old.
Ly was born and raised in Vietnam. When she was ten years old, she was attending a boarding school run by the Lovers of the Holy Cross when a bomb killed her parents in the war for independence from the French. She later entered their congregation and made promises in 1959. She was then missioned as a teacher and principal. In 1974 she was missioned to a large school in Laos and in 1975 the Communists forced the Sisters to leave that school. Ly went to a refugee camp in Thailand with three orphaned children. She reached out to U.S. Bishops and a year later she, and the children, were invited by Archbishop Hunthausen to come to Seattle. Ly moved into St. Joseph’s Convent and began her life with our community. Local families adopted the children.
Once in Seattle, Ly dedicated her energy into building up the Vietnamese community. She worked long hours and did what needed to be done to support, educate and care for people. She creatively served the needs of the Vietnamese community, meeting unmet needs and helping develop leadership skills within the community. In 1984 she transferred to our congregation and in 1987 made her final vows as a Sister of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM). She also spent seven years teaching preschool children, a ministry which gave her great joy. In 1998 she returned to Vietnam for a month and from that trip “A Call to Vietnam” ministry was born. Ly was supported in her life and in this ministry to the people of Vietnam by her good friend Kay Burton, SNJM (RIP). Ly and Kay traveled to Vietnam a dozen times to teach and care for people with disabilities, the mountain people and orphans, and to instruct the Sisters of Ly’s former community in English. Ly never lost her love for, or connections with, the Lovers of the Holy Cross.
We remember Ly as a lover of beauty. She grew orchids and she loved to arrange seasonal decorations for the table. She was often busy with her crochet hook, making potholders, keychains and notecards which she enjoyed giving as gifts. She believed in the power of hard work and was willing to do what needed to be done to make life better for others. She was a woman of deep faith and abundant courage.
Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated on Friday, September 27, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. at the Vietnamese Martyrs Church in Tukwila, Washington.