The legacy of the Tran family of Burien lives on through one surviving son, Canh Minh Tran, 19, a sophomore at the University of Washington living in the University District.

The other five members of his immediate family died from carbon monoxide poisoning, believed to be result of a generator running in the family's closed garage during the power outage caused by December's windstorm.

Canh Tran was not at his family's house over the weekend following the Dec. 14 windstorm, which knocked out power for several days in much of the Highline area.

On Dec. 15, Khanh Tran told family friend Doan Do that he was going to buy an electric generator.

The Trans were last seen on Dec. 16. Around 4:30 that afternoon, power was restored in their neighborhood.

At the request of relatives who hadn't seen the Trans for two days, King County Sheriff's deputies broke into the family's north Burien home the afternoon of Dec. 18.

Deputies found four members of the family dead-Khanh Tran, 46, his wife, Dan Thuy Nguyen, 44, and two sons, Quyen Tran, 21, and John Quoc Tran, 14.

The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning believed to have come from their new generator. When a generator is used indoors without sufficient ventilation, its odorless toxic byproduct-carbon monoxide-can kill in minutes.

The other son, Doanh Tran, 24, was rushed to Harborview Medical Center after deputies found him downstairs in the house, unconscious but still alive.

He died Jan. 20, the eighth death from carbon monoxide poisoning in Western Washington since the windstorm.

Khanh Tran's cousin Hung Tran, visiting from Texas, reflected on what happened in a recent phone conversation.

"You learn from their death. I wish that everyone heard the story," Hung Tran said. "Hopefully it just woke everybody up to learn from it....

"Get a generator home to comfort his family. Tried to save his family. And that's what happened."

All 16 pews in the Church of the Vietnamese Martyrs in Seattle were full for a funeral Mass for four members of the Tran family in December.

A row of metal folding chairs lined the walls for additional seating, and others stood in the back. Most of the service was in Vietnamese, with some of the homily repeated in English.

The family immigrated to the United States in 1988, the parents and their three young sons, Doanh, Quyen and Canh, making the tough journey together.

"They lived in a small, you know, building in South Vietnam," Hung Tran recalled.

"They left Vietnam to get their freedom ... home, land, mother ... they left everything behind there to go here, to get freedom for their kids and for them. For their children's children."

The Trans arrived in Texas in 1990, moved to California for about a year where their youngest son John was born, and came to Seattle in the early 1990s.

"They have a friend live here, you know," Hung Tran said. "They wanted to move up here to have a better life for their sons."

The Trans became part of the St. Peter (Catholic) Vietnamese Community in West Seattle, and went to church at Our Lady of Lourdes in Seattle.

Khanh Tran, a professional landscaper who started his own business here, worked hard six or seven days a week to get a home for his family, Hung Tran said.

"They have to work like the rest of people."

The family eventually bought a two-story house with a bay window in the 17000 block of Ambaum Boulevard Southwest.

In addition to Khanh Tran's hard work, he had some support from the family.

"His older brother came to the United States longer, 1979 or something, so you know, help him out. Learned a bit about financing," Hung Tran continued.

"Our Vietnamese custom ... that family we kind of like stick close together. We help out one another."

The goal of the Trans was "to go to school, to get educated ... have the whole family be normal people, have good jobs and go to work and have good families," Hung Tran recalled.

"That's what they dream of. That's what their goal is."

Fr. Phuong Hoang of the Vietnamese Catholic Community of Seattle said in a telephone conversation that those who worked with Khanh Tran spoke "very kindly of him.

He described him as "a caring and good father and husband."

Fr. Phuong added that Dan Thuy Nguyen was "well liked among her friends. She is a very caring and very special mother to all her children, but in particular to the one who needed her care and her love most, Quyen."

Quyen was the joy of his family and an inspiration to them, Fr. Phuong said.

Rosannette Rimando also spoke during the funeral Mass on behalf Quyen Tran's "family" of friends and teachers at South Seattle Community College.

Rimando, director of student outreach, admissions and recruitment at SSCC, was one of Quyen Tran's teachers.

Rimondo noted that many students who took her class with Quyen Tran, who went to Tyee High School in SeaTac, said he was their first friend in the classroom.

Being deaf, he studied sign language and was taking classes at SSCC to become a mechanic.

John Tran was a computer-game "wizard," according an article in The Seattle Times.

Doanh Tran, who died last month, had been working at a grocery warehouse so he could afford to bring his wife and month-old son here from Vietnam.

"He was a kind and caring person, a good son and a good brother to the family," said Cuong Mai, a friend who has known Doanh Tran since middle school.

The community can donate to a benevolent fund for the Tran family at any Bank of America location.