Danh Q. Tran

Danh Q. Tran (Buddy) was born July 10, 1953 in South Vietnam. As a young man, he enlisted in the military and served along with the United States military against North Vietnam. When the war ended, he was forced to work in the rice fields for $2.00 a day until he escaped with his brother in the middle of the night. They met up with others, and he piloted a boat for 3 days until they reached Indonesia. Buddy and his brother were then sponsored by a church in Wahpeton, ND to bring them to the United States in the mid 1970s. His first job was at the Frying Pan washing dishes. In 1978, he began his career at 3M working several years. He then continued with Imation, a spinoff of 3M. He married Lisa Morgan, the love of his life, on November 18, 2010. They retired in Apache Junction in 2014. In his retirement, he worked part time at Gold Canyon as a cook. Buddy made many friends wherever he worked but none more important than Sergio Perez and his wife Rosa. They were like family to he and Lisa. Buddy loved to fish in Minnesota and North Dakota, play darts, the Minnesota Twins and Vikings and he loved cruising. He passed away on October 22, 2026 under Hospice Care after a brief battle with cancer, with his wife Lisa and a few family members by his side.

He is survived by his wife Lisa, 3 sons David Ding, Chris Tran and Matt Tran, a brother Huong Tran in Washington, a sister Trinh Tran in Australia and siblings in Vietnam, In-laws Candy (Gary) Lochow, Angela (Sky) Hawes and JP (Jasmine) Morgan.

He was preceded in death by his parents in Vietnam.