Father Vincent Surprised With Aggie Ring

Story and images submitted by the De La Cruz family 

After 24 years without his Aggie Ring, Vincent Tran ’91—now “Father” Vincent Tran, of St. Albert of Trapani Catholic Church in Houston—was presented with his Aggie Ring at a Memorial Mass held on Sunday, September 20, 2015. The De La Cruz family provided the Aggie Ring: Ed De La Cruz ’56, Mike De La Cruz ’06 & ’78, Kim Roberts-De La Cruz ’78, and Richard De La Cruz ’84, in memory of Cathy De La Cruz, who passed away March 23, 2015.

Cathy was an Aggie at heart, who always wanted to attend Texas A&M. However, Cathy was confined to a wheelchair due to SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), and TAMU was not yet fully handicap accessible in the early 1980s, so she instead attended University of Houston and graduated with a degree in Psychology. Cathy’s strong faith led her to be an active parishioner at St. Albert’s for 15 years, where she first met and spoke with Father Vincent Tran.

On March 24, when planning the funeral Mass with her family, Father Vincent noticed the family members’ Aggie Rings. He commented that he was also an Aggie, class of ‘91 with a degree in business. Back in 1991, Father Vincent put down the deposit for his Aggie Ring, but unfortunately had to get a refund to pay the rent. With Cathy’s can-do, insistent attitude fresh in their minds, the De La Cruzes knew Cathy would have wanted Father Vincent to finally have his Aggie Ring the moment she heard the conversation. And so, to honor her memory, Father Vincent was presented with his engraved Aggie Ring at the September 20th Memorial Mass.

Vincent Tran’s parents, Tho Chinh Tran and Tang Thi Nguyen, were both born near Hanoi, in northern Vietnam. In 1954, with the country split by war, his family migrated to Saigon so they could continue to practice Catholicism. Vincent was born there in 1969, the youngest of eight children. His family left Vietnam for the USA in 1975, moving to Houston in 1980. During college, St. Mary’s Catholic Center in College Station was instrumental in helping him build his faith through daily Mass and Aggie Awakening retreats.

Upon graduation, Vincent worked for Houston Works, a nonprofit providing job training for the unemployed, where he advanced to Supervisor of Marketing. Throughout his secular career, he volunteered as a catechist at Houston’s Our Lady of Lavang Parish. But after five years as a catechist, Vincent made his decision to pursue the priesthood—a switch to “marketing God,” he jokes. He entered Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas in the fall of 2000 to begin pre-theology studies. During 2001, he was adopted by St. Albert of Trapani parish in Houston as their seminarian to support the parish with prayer.

His study of theology at St. Mary’s Seminary began in Fall 2002, where he received Ministry of Reader in February 2003, followed by the Ministry of Acolyte in September 2003. Vincent was assigned to St. Theresa Church in Houston to complete his 2004-5 pastoral internship year, receiving candidacy in March 2006 and becoming ordained as a transitional deacon in November 2006. He was ordained to the priesthood, officially becoming “Father Vincent Tran,” on June 2, 2007 at St. John Vianney Church in Houston. His first priestly assignment was at St. Jerome Church, followed by his new and current assignment as administrator of St. Albert of Trapani Church in 2010.

The De La Cruz Aggie family was thrilled to present Father Vincent Tran with his Aggie Ring, after a long, 24-year wait. Now Father Vincent can proudly display his Aggie Ring alongside us all!