Early life
Born into a Chinese family in Saigon, Vietnam, on November 11, 1950, Tommy was the youngest son of the eleven children of 鄭九公 and 賴好. His family sometimes had to conceal their Chinese identity amid war and political upheaval. Tommy served in the army and lived through violent resistance in his younger years. At seventeen, he began learning the printing trade while helping his brother-in-law run a printing business.
Vietnam · Malaysia · Canada
The Journey to Canada
This is the story his community shares – hundreds of families in Calgary carry a crossing like this one. This crossing was his.
In 1979, Tommy led the building of, and captained, a two-level steel boat that carried approximately 300 people from Vietnam to Malaysia in search of freedom and a future.
He organized a team, raised money, built a motorized two-level steel boat and assembled people with the skills needed for the crossing, including protectors and a mechanic.
The crossing took about a week. When the propeller failed at sea, the mechanic dived beneath the boat and remained underwater so long that Tommy feared he had drowned and that everyone aboard would die. The motor finally started again. A mother and her one-week-old baby died during the journey.
After reaching Malaysia, the boat was sunk as a condition of the passengers being accepted as refugees. They lived in a refugee camp for approximately six months while applying for resettlement in a Western country, before Tommy began a new life in Canada in 1979.
The family that grew from it
Tommy 鄭志強 · 杜蕙芳 Phuong
His children: Lily Trinh, Shirley Trinh, Kelly Trinh, Johnson Trinh
His grandchildren: Kinley, Nicholas, Mia, Kingston, Hailey
After arriving in Canada, he put his printing experience to work and built the close-knit family and community life for which he is remembered.
City Prints
Tommy continued in the printing industry for more than forty years. He owned City Prints from 1999 to 2023 and remained a consultant after the business changed ownership.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Tommy became known in Calgary for offering support, experience and friendship to small businesses and members of the Chinese and Vietnamese communities.
Family
Tommy is lovingly remembered by his wife, Phuong; his daughters, Lily Trinh, Shirley Trinh, Kelly Trinh; his sons-in-law, Dicky Lin, Jason Chang, Ernesto Ascura; and his grandchildren, Kinley, Nicholas, Mia, Kingston, Hailey. He was predeceased by his beloved son, Johnson Trinh.
He is also remembered by three older sisters, in Canada, Vietnam and China, and by nieces and nephews around the world.
Beyond work
Tommy loved the natural world: mountains and rivers, lakes and waterfalls, and the open horizon of the ocean. Road trips gave him a way to explore those places.
He was equally drawn to what came next. Innovations, gadgets, technology, graphic-design programs and artificial intelligence all held his attention. His curiosity remained part of him throughout his life.
He left us in Calgary on July 18, 2026, at the age of 75. We miss him every day. 音容宛在。