Mr Thai, 66, who was the president of the Ballarat Chinese Community Association as well as the owner of Golden Crown restaurant, died on Christmas eve after complications with his heart.

Evidenced by his long list of accolades and titles, his wife Sandra said her husband was a man who had worked very hard to improve his community as well as their businesses. 

“My husband was very kind, very easy to get along with, he was very respected among the community,” she said. 

“He just liked to help people, if people asked him and they needed the help, he always said yes.”

Mr Thai and his wife moved to Ballarat from Vietnam in 1977, making the city their home and starting their first restaurant here three years later. . 

The couple also owned two restaurants in Melborune’s China Town on Little Bourke Street, operating them for many years before focusing more attention on the long running and successful Ballarat business. 

The couple raised three children, William Jackie and Phillip and are also the proud grandparents to Olivia. 

 Mr Thai was also awarded an Order of Australia in 2002 and received a Centenary Medal. 

He also acted as a Justice of the Peace, 

More recently  Mr Thai was approached to be the patron for fundraising for the construction of  ‘Open Monument’, a tribute to the contribution of the Chinese community to Ballarat built on Main Road.  

He was also instrumental in the restoration and the maintaining  of the Old Chinese Cemetery in Ballarat.

Sovereign Hill chief executive Jeremy Johnson described Mr Thai as a leader in the community who had been crucial in a number of initiatives recognising the contribution of the Chinese to Ballarat. 

“Henry was a leader for the Chinese community and Ballarat and a very long term contributor to welfare and community development,” he said. 

“He was a thoroughly decent man and held very strong principles and did the right thing 

“He was a man who held principles of doing the right things for the community and the Chinese community in particular.”