Joe M. Nguyen, who was born and raised in Vietnam and has lived in Chicago since 1988, working as a graphic designer, passed away Sunday afternoon, Oct. 16 in his sleep. He was 48.
Nguyen worked for Independent Signs & Graphics and lived in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood with his husband, Mark Harrer, and their daughter, Lynn.
Nguyen and Harrer, friends for 26 years, dated for 21 years, and were married June 26, 2014. They adopted Lynn at age 2; she is now 16, a junior in high school.
"He was a very caring person with a strong personality. He was very confident, very generous. It's really hard to even process," said Chung Luu, of Chicago, friends with Nguyen since the mid-1990s. "Back in the day, we were inseparable. We were like pots and pans."
When going out together in the city years ago, Luu always asked Nguyen how he looked, and Nguyen once replied, "You look fear," instead of fierce. "That was always our inside joke."
Nguyen and Harrer, 55, met through friends. Nguyen said it was "Joe's personality," which stood out most. "He was just a nice person to be around, a giving person who would do anything for anybody," Harrer said. "He was my rock. If anything was going on, I could go to him and he'd tell me that everything would be OK, don't worry."
Nguyen enjoyed working out, music, dancing and cooking.
"Joe always knew what he wanted," Harrer said. "He was the type of person who could do anything that he wanted. Anything he set his mind to, he would do and become good at it."
Case in point, as a kid he became a self-taught beautician, learning how to cut hair just by watching others at work. He also was a self-taught chef, Harrer said.
Nguyen helped introduce his daughter to ice skating and figure skating, Harrer said. "Joe was an amazing, perfect dad, and Lynn was the love of his life," Harrer added.
Nguyen is survived by his mother, three sisters and one brotherall of whom live in Chicago. Joe was the second-youngest of five siblings.
· A wake/visitation will be held Friday, Oct. 21, from 2-9 p.m., at Cooney Funeral Home ( 3918 W. Irving Park Road ). The funeral is Saturday, Oct. 22, from 8:30-12noon at Cooney Funeral Home.