Vincent Lo, a favorite son of Hong Kong, died on Wednesday, November 29. He suffered a heart attack while making a dinner of chicken and rice at his home. The EMS unit that attended to him was unable to revive him. He was 50 years old.
Vincent was a devoted and generous husband, stepfather, son, son-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, cousin, nephew and grandchild. He loved every one of these singular and sensational roles, and he played them all to the hilt. He wanted nothing more than to be with his family.
The highlight of his professional career was the day when Ali Nguyen, his co-worker and future wife, visited his office for the first time. Their bond was his greatest joy and his deepest commitment. They were as inseparable as Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Whether traveling the world or popping over to Chick-Fil-A, they were able to capture the magic of the day, their hearts at ease, their hopes blooming.
Vincent was extraordinarily kind and attentive to his mother Rose, who died in March 2022. Over the decades that she lived in Hong Kong (returning there after Vincent finished high school), they spoke many times a week despite a time difference of 12 or 13 hours. Both of them were NFL fans. Vincent was a loyal Jets fan, and they often watched games together—despite being over 8,000 miles apart.
Vincent and his brother Rich were best friends. Growing up, they roomed together. When cell phones and then texting came about, they talked multiple times per week, and shared their experiences all day long, every day through texts and photos. Food, especially Cantonese food, was always one of the leading topics. Recently, Wordle has had a lot of prominence. No one appreciated Rich’s love for Olivia Newton-John more than Vincent. Much to Rich’s gratification, Vincent would often be the first to identity to his older brother articles, ephemera, never before seen photos, and new and used merch(andise) for ONJ.
Vincent adored Hong Kong, where he was born on February 5, 1973. At that time, he was a subject of Queen Elizabeth II, as a British National Overseas (BNO). After the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, Vincent was a proud permanent resident of Hong Kong, SAR (Special Administrative Region), and he was a frequent visitor. On his last visit, in February, Vincent and his wife Ali traveled to Hong Kong to take his mother’s ashes to be buried in his family’s plot near Wuxi, China (a two-hour drive from Shanghai).
After graduating from the University of Houston, Vincent worked almost his entire career, nearly 25 years, at Verizon where he was an engineer in the company’s landline division. As a testament to his professional skills, no one survived more layoffs than Vincent. As the cellular network clobbered the landline business, he stayed ahead of a long and growing wave of pink slips for decades—until the pandemic. Subsequently, he was a consultant to Verizon regarding its legacy landline holdings.
Vincent is survived by his wife Ali Nguyen; stepdaughter, Sydney; dog, Cutie; brother, Rich and husband, Joe; sisters, Cynthia and husband, Frank, Maggie and Amy; nephew, Ethan; niece, Ava and many other extended family members whom he lavished with his time and treasure, but most of all, his love.
A visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Saturday, December 2, 2023, at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas 75013.
Memorial donations may be made to Stand Up to Cancer or SPCA of Texas.