Ańh Gietzen

Funeral Mass for Ańh Gietzen, 71, of Glen Ullin, will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, January 22, 2022 at St. Clement’s Catholic Church in Haymarsh with Father Gary Benz celebrating. Burial will follow at St. Clement’s Cemetery.

Visitation will be 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Friday, January 21 at St. Clement’s Church with Rosary and Vigil being held at 6:00 p.m.

Be Ba (Ańh) Gietzen passed away in her home January 18, 2022, after a long battle with dementia.

She is survived by her husband, Russell; her children; Gabriel (Maria) of Fargo, Medora (Marty) of Elgin, Monica (Andrew) of Glen Ullin, Raphael (Nicole) of Grandin, Luke of Mandan, Agatha of Bismarck, and adopted son Milton of Lake Park, MN; and her grandchildren: Katrina, Mya, Lucas, Aidric, Mercedes, Natalya, Isabel, Malachi, Ellianna, Evelyn, Atticus, Micah, Simon, Anika, Molly, Elysia, Maggie, Ambrose, Axton, Ignatius, Mary, and Lucy.

Her birth was recorded as May 12 in Binh-Ninh, South Vietnam in 1950. Her full name was Trần Thị Bé Ba which when translated means number two sparkling diamond. Her mother nicknamed her Hai.

She married Russell Gietzen in the St. Clement Church, north of Glen Ullin, on December 6, 1971.

The next 19 years were very hard for Ańh. Effects of the war caused her to lose all contact with her family but thankfully, she was able to reconnect with them in 1990. She was able to travel back to Viet Nam again in 2000 and 2014. Ańh had a very generous heart. She enjoyed helping others and it gave her great joy to help her family rebuild their home after the war.

Ańh was shrewd and business minded. She worked hard to help Russell achieve their goal of being debt free. While he was working an off the farm job, she learned to run equipment and take care of livestock. She did this with her children at her side. When her children were mostly grown, she started cooking for the Red Trail Grill in Taylor which featured an oriental night for several years. In 2005, she started working for the Marian Manor nursing home as a CNA and endeared herself with the community by her compassionate care of the elderly.

Ańh loved children, especially babies. Her grandchildren were on the receiving end of many kisses, hugs, squeezed cheeks and candy.

She is also survived by her family in Viet Nam; Huỳnh Thanh Liêm, Trần Công Toại, Trần Thị Kim Lang,
Trần Thị Thu Hồng, Trần Thị Thu Cúc, Trần Văn Minh, Trần Tiến Dũng, Trần Thị Hồng Nga, Trần Thị Hồng Loan, Trần Thị Diễm Khánh and seven nephews and five nieces.

She is preceded in death by; her sister, Trần Thị Thu Hương, her mother, Trần Thị Nhãn, her father, Trần Văn Bay and her granddaughter, Odessa Gietzen.