Phat Ba Duong

Phat Duong lived loudly, loved fiercely, laughed often, and somehow managed to pack about three lifetimes of stories into 48 years (49... IYKYK). If you ever met Phat, you remember the smile first. Huge, unmistakable, and usually paired with a joke that was either wildly inappropriate or painfully accurate. Sometimes both.

Phat had the biggest heart to match that smile. He was funny, talented, charismatic, and a consummate entertainer. Whether he was holding court at a dinner table, telling a story that absolutely did not need embellishment (but got it anyway), or turning an ordinary moment into something unforgettable, his punchlines were perfect and his energy was contagious. He didn't just enter a room; he arrived. And somehow, everyone felt like they belonged once he did.

He loved the outdoors, his friends and family, his dogs, and life itself, hard and without apology. Phat believed in living life to the fullest, and he did exactly that every single day. He was generous to a fault, loyal beyond measure, and the kind of person who would give you the shirt off his back... then roast you mercilessly for needing it.

But above all else; above the jokes, the adventures, the stories that may or may not be entirely true; Phat loved his two girls. Spencer and Charlie were his absolute pride and joy, his greatest legacy, and the center of his universe. Everything he did, he did with them in mind. His girls will grow up with sweet memories of the love he showed for them and will be showered by all with stories of their father and the magic he brought to this world.

Phat loved his dogs deeply and spoiled them unapologetically. There was Oscar (aka Oz) and Jupiter, who are no doubt by his side, and he is survived by Oliver, his friends' dog who somehow became Phat's own protector and emotional support till the end.

Phat is survived by his daughters, Spencer and Charlie; his beloved, Lauren; his mother and father, Chinh Van Duong and Thoa Kim Pham; his sisters, Kim Duong and Phuong Duong Ngo; his brother, Tung Ba Duong; several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins; and a large, unruly, fiercely loyal group of sisters and brothers by choice.

Cancer may have taken Phat from us far too soon, but it never took his spirit. That lives on; in stories told over drinks, in laughter that comes out of nowhere, in dogs who are wildly over-treated, and in the kind of love that doesn't fade when someone is gone.

A Celebration of Life will be held in honor of Phat on 1/31/2026 from 1:00-4:00 PM at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery - Ballantyne, located at 15025 Bowl Street, Charlotte, NC, in the Biergarten Overlook. Friends and loved ones are invited to gather, share stories, laughter, and raise a glass in true Phat fashion.

In lieu of flowers, Phat would much prefer that donations be made in his name to any cancer organization, or to Hospice for their extraordinary compassion—or, at the very least, that you do something kind, generous, or slightly rebellious in his honor.