Lisa Yen

Our beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother passed in her sleep on Wednesday, June 4th, 2025 at her home in Green Valley. She was 86 years old.

Lisa was born in Nam Dinh, Vietnam to her parents Tran Van Voi and Tran Thi Truong. She lived there until 1954 and finished high school in Ha Noi before moving to Saigon. Her family lost all their properties in the French Vietnam war including a large plantation in Ninh Binh and multiple houses in Nam Dinh. She married our father, Dan Yen, in 1959 and the family emigrated to the United States in 1975 due to the US/Vietnam conflict to restart their lives after losing most of their assets for a second time. Despite their misfortune, our parents continued to work hard in pursuit of the American dream and were huge patriots of this country. They taught us how to dream big, set goals, work hard, and to serve others.

Lisa was a successful business owner many times over. She was a cosmetologist by trade but also owned four restaurants in total including the Happy Steak in Fairfield all while maintaining her Cosmetology and Aesthetician licenses and raising her family. She loved to share her passion for beauty and beautification with her clients and had a remarkable way of caring for them and making them feel special. She routinely worked late evenings and weekends and would travel to her elderly client’s homes and retirement communities to assist them in looking their best and feeling good about themselves. She also loved animals of any kind and would break up bread daily to feed the birds in her front yard. In fact, one of her last requests on the night before she passed was to feed the birds as they would be expecting dinner soon. We will hold on tight to her kindness and love as we mourn her loss. We are taking solace now that she is reunited with our dad and our brother, Danny.

Our mother was preceded in death by her parents, our father, Dan Yen, and our beloved brother, Daniel Nguyen. She is survived by her older sister, Tuat Pham; her older brother, Truc (Chau) Tran; her son, Tony Nguyen; daughter, Christine (Victor) Judd; daughter, Julie (Gary) Sabbadini; and her grandchildren Matthew (Stephanie) Judd, Andrew (Melisa) Judd, Kacie Judd, and Amy, Olivia, and Jason Sabbadini. She is also survived by her great grandchildren Azure, Daisy, Bonnie, and Poppy Judd.

We will celebrate Lisa’s life with a Memorial Service on Thursday, June 19th at 1:00 pm at Oak Park Hills Chapel at 3111 N. Main St. in Walnut Creek. There will be a Buddhist ceremony from 1:30 - 3:30 pm with visitation and viewing of the body any time from 1:00 -5:00 pm. Lisa will then be laid to rest the following day on Friday, June 20th at 2:30pm at Los Gatos Memorial Park, 2255 Los Gatos Almaden Rd. in Los Gatos. All are welcome one or both days and for any length of time that you can attend.

We want to express our gratitude to everyone who knew and loved our mother over the years. Your warmth and friendship meant so much to her and to us. She will be remembered for the beautiful person she was and the life she led.