A loving requiem tinged with fear

In an august Catholic church across the Upper Darby street from where he was bound, beaten and killed for his money, Hoa Pham was mourned yesterday by hundreds of people who filled all 74 pews.

Pham, 60, died Monday after an intruder in his Copley Road rowhouse beat him and his wife in their bed, dragged them to the living room, demanded money, and stabbed them. Pham's wife, Thai Nguyen, 58, escaped and called for help.

A decorated veteran of the South Vietnamese military who endured seven years as a prisoner of the communist government, Pham had taken his last breath by the time police arrived just before 9:30 p.m.

Relatives of the dead wore white headbands as a symbol of grieving at the funeral service, conducted mostly in Vietnamese. Mourners in St. Alice Roman Catholic Church sang hymns, prayed, and heard about the life of Pham, who attended Mass there regularly.

Pham, the father of six, came to the United States 17 years ago. He worked as a subassembly technician for Alloy Surfaces in Chester Township.

It was "a big loss for me when he died, a big loss for our community," the Rev. Peter Quinn said.

Pham's wife, in the hospital last week for stab wounds and fractures in her face and elsewhere, sat in the front, draped in white.

She sobbed as relatives pushed her wheelchair behind Pham's coffin as it was carried along the center aisle toward the doors leading outside.

Authorities said the couple apparently had been targeted at random.

Some funeralgoers said the attack had wrought fear among the local Vietnamese.

"It stunned the whole Vietnamese community in Upper Darby," longtime friend Edward Nguyen said after the service. "I really don't understand that. We're living afraid. We're scared."

He recalled seeing Pham at a get-together among friends just before he died. Pham, he said, was his normal kind, joking self.

Pham was also close with next-door neighbors Michael and Darlene Simmons.

Outside the church, Michael Simmons recounted how they had eaten dinner and watched their children grow up together.

"He was laid-back, enjoyed life. . . . He'd bend over backwards to do something for you," Simmons said.

One man, searching for words to speak about his uncle's death, looked out across the flock of people who had come to pay their respects.

"In my life I've never seen this much people coming for a funeral," said Huy Pham, "so obviously that tells you something."