Ma, Hua and Noi Tran

(Mildred I. Kjome)

On 22 Feb 1989, Hua Ma and his wife Noi Tran arrived in Decorah with their children, Soan, Kim, Cam, Oi, and Hon. Their experience is similar to the experience of many pioneers that settled this area.

Hua and Noi were born in the year of the Mouse in the little farming community of Vinh Chau, in South Vietnam. They grew up on the land and became farmers like their forefathers, raising vegetables and melons. The young man and woman married after the traditions of their village and raised a family of six children, two sons and four daughters.

The Hua Ma family

The land was ravished by continual war and political unrest. In 1975 South Vietnam fell to the communists and life there became intolerable. Hua hoped for a better life for his family and like so many others in South Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia, he planned to escape and bring his family to America. In 1987 he put his plan into action. Together with 110 other Vietnamese, Hua took his family onto a small boat, about 25 feet long, and escaped into the night. After three days the food and water had been used up and they were in peril for their lives. A Malaysian ship picked up the weary refugees, and brought them to Malaysia to a refugee internment camp. The family remained there for six months.

During that time, the second son, Hien, and Hua’s brothers, Linh, Khen, and Due, were processed for the United States. They arrived in Decorah in Sep 1987, sponsored by Clark and Judy Mikkelsen and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. In Decorah, the four young men were employed in a variety of occupations: Due and Linh on construction for Minowa Construction and Carlson Construction, Khen at Vesterheim as a custodian, and Hien at Iowa Turkey Products in Postville.

The Hua Ma family spent the second six months in a camp in the Philippines learning English and preparing to come to the United States. At last the day came when they boarded the airplane and flew to the New World and a new life. The first thing they saw when they landed in Rochester, MN was a white blanket of snow. This was their first experience with snow. Their sponsor, Clark Mikkelsen, was there to welcome them. The Ma family was also relieved to see the familiar faces of their son and brother, Hien, and the three uncles, Due, Khen, and Linh. First things to be taken care of included medical check-ups and enrollment in the ESL (English as a Second Language) Program. Hua, Noi, and Soan attended English classes at Good Shepherd Church. The girls were enrolled in the Decorah schools. Soon after their arrival Hua and Soan went to work at Iowa Turkey Products in Postville, where they have been employed ever since. Their first home was on North Mill Street, where the Bethania Church now stands. They had to move when the house was torn down to make way for the church building. Their second home was above a store on East Water Street. The family prospered in Decorah and they shared their prosperity with other newcomers from Southeast Asia. Their home was always filled with people, the kitchen buzzing with the activities of preparing meals, and the voices of the men and women sharing their experiences and their life stories, their joys and sorrows. The children sat around the kitchen table after school doing their schoolwork amid all the conversation of the bustling household. Kim graduated from Decorah High School in 1991. She worked during the summers at Iowa Turkey Products and continued there full time following graduation. She is now employed at Gemini Co. in Decorah. She is engaged to marry Cheuang Kevan. Cam married Quan Phui in Aug 1994. She and her husband also reside in Decorah. Oi will graduate from Decorah High School in 1996. She will attend Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar. Hien married Tuyet Anh Hoang Tran in May 1994. They presented Hua and Noi with their first grandchild, a boy named Tony. Tony is the first U.S. citizen in the Hua Ma family. The Ma family now reside in their own new house on South Mechanic Street, a home ever filled with love and generosity.

Mace, Larry and Robin (Koeneman)

(Kathy Arbogast)

Robin Elaine Koeneman, daughter of Robert and Kathryn (Finholt) Koeneman, was born at Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis, MN. She attended schools in Absarakee, MT Decorah, IA and Sheridan, WY

While in Decorah in 1965 she was in the second grade and remembers taking part in the “cowboy” program and winning the hat day contest thus getting her picture in the paper. She graduated in 1975 from Sheridan High School, Sheridan, after only 3 years of high school. In addition to required courses, she had taken so many extra art courses that she had more than enough credits so she opted to go to college early, attending the University of Wyoming.

Robin is now married to Larry Mace of Lebanon, MO. They live on a farm where they are raising a multitude of “small fry" (chickens, ducks, turkeys, etc.). She also creates furniture - particularly clocks - which she sells in the Lebanon and Branson area. Her art is still very much a