Marie Duong Staats

Marie Duong Staats, age 77 of Killeen, passed away on Saturday, August 30, 2025.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 12:00 noon, Thursday, September 11, 2025, at Saint Paul Chong Hasang Catholic Church in Harker Heights, with Fr. Brian McMaster officiating. Interment will follow at 2:00 p.m. at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery. Rosary will be recited at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 10 at Sneed Carnley Funeral Home in Copperas Cove followed by visitation until 8:00 p.m.

Marie was born on June 8, 1948, in Vietnam to Nguyen Thi Qui and the late Duong Phuoc Xoi. Marie met her husband Bill in the village of Xuan Loc in 1971. In 1973, Marie moved to New York and married William Staats, and they traveled with the military. In 1989, Marie went back to school and received a degree in cosmetology and worked at Elena’s and Goldfinger’s beauty salons in Killeen for over thirty years.

Marie loved fishing and gardening. In recent years, she enjoyed watching football. She enjoyed traveling the world with her family and church family. Her favorite places to visit were Lake Tahoe and Kauai, Hawaii. The light of her life was her seven grandchildren. Marie was a member of Saint Paul Chong Hasang Catholic Church in Harker Heights.

Marie is preceded in death by her father, and her son, Tony Staats in 2014.

She is survived by her husband of 52 years, William Staats; mother, Nguyen Thi Qui; her sons, Loc Nguyen and wife, Huong and Phuc Nguyen and wife, Thi Thao; daughter, Sabrina Balchunas, and husband Tony; seven grandchildren; five great grandchildren; and four brothers and four sisters.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Saint Paul Chong Hasang Catholic Church in Harker Heights, 1000 FM 2410, Harker Heights, Texas 76548.

Scott’s Funeral Home in Gatesville in charge of arrangements, www.scottsfh.com.