A Life Well Lived...
March 10, 2021
Alfredo grew up in the Philippines in a family that was very
poor. It was here that he learned his
tremendous work ethic. Every Friday after school, along with three cousins, he
would travel to the nipa house his grandfather built in the middle of the rice
fields to bring a week's supply of food. It was a long two-mile walk from his
home, and they would stay there for two days to help the grandfather with
chores until he passed.
Poverty did not hinder Alfredo from pursuing an education. When Alfredo finished high school, he decided to move to the city to work grooming racehorses. He planned to earn enough money to enroll in college. His plans quickly changed when he met a beautiful girl named Felicisima. A few months later, he married at the age of nineteen. After five years of marriage and three children later, the cost of living in the city became too much and he decided to move back to the province.
By that time, his younger brother Arthur had migrated to the United States. Arthur wrote Alfredo a letter to ask if he ever considered pursuing more schooling. This was well before cell phones, and so in time, Alfredo wrote him back and responded with a resounding yes. When his brother asked him what he wanted to study, he was expecting to hear engineering or something in the medical field.
Instead, Alfredo was most interested in being a diesel mechanic. He enrolled and was accepted at the Manantan Institute of Science and Technology. He did so well in school that he caught the attention of the administration and he was hired right after graduation to teach at the school. He spent the next twenty-five years from 1979-2004 teaching at Manantan. In 2004, he was offered a job at Panpacific University North Philippines as one of their Head Instructors where he spent the next six years until 2010.
In 1987, his brother filed a petition on his behalf to come to the United States, but due to the backlog, he waited for more than twenty-four years until he was able to come to the United States. In 2012, he arrived in the United States with his wife and youngest daughter.
A few months later, he applied for a job at Trident Seafoods but quickly discovered that he had missed the date for local interviews. Not wanting to see him miss this opportunity, his brother discovered that interviews were being held in San Diego and they drove three hours to interview in person. He was hired and this began his love for Alaska. According to his family, Trident became his second home. He made many good friends at Trident over the years. His brother Arthur shared, “I know my big brother loves you guys.” His family remembers him as a friendly, deeply loving, very smart, and well-spoken family man. They are thankful he is no longer in pain or suffering.
Alfredo is survived by his wife, Felicisima, which he was lovingly married to for 52 years and eight children - Jovita, Jerry, Hilda, Allan, Adriel, Esther, Victoria, and Krizelle. He was blessed with twenty-two grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren. He has five sisters, Adorina, Eufemia, Herminia, Leonila Imelda and one brother Arthur.
Poverty did not hinder Alfredo from pursuing an education. When Alfredo finished high school, he decided to move to the city to work grooming racehorses. He planned to earn enough money to enroll in college. His plans quickly changed when he met a beautiful girl named Felicisima. A few months later, he married at the age of nineteen. After five years of marriage and three children later, the cost of living in the city became too much and he decided to move back to the province.
By that time, his younger brother Arthur had migrated to the United States. Arthur wrote Alfredo a letter to ask if he ever considered pursuing more schooling. This was well before cell phones, and so in time, Alfredo wrote him back and responded with a resounding yes. When his brother asked him what he wanted to study, he was expecting to hear engineering or something in the medical field.
Instead, Alfredo was most interested in being a diesel mechanic. He enrolled and was accepted at the Manantan Institute of Science and Technology. He did so well in school that he caught the attention of the administration and he was hired right after graduation to teach at the school. He spent the next twenty-five years from 1979-2004 teaching at Manantan. In 2004, he was offered a job at Panpacific University North Philippines as one of their Head Instructors where he spent the next six years until 2010.
In 1987, his brother filed a petition on his behalf to come to the United States, but due to the backlog, he waited for more than twenty-four years until he was able to come to the United States. In 2012, he arrived in the United States with his wife and youngest daughter.
A few months later, he applied for a job at Trident Seafoods but quickly discovered that he had missed the date for local interviews. Not wanting to see him miss this opportunity, his brother discovered that interviews were being held in San Diego and they drove three hours to interview in person. He was hired and this began his love for Alaska. According to his family, Trident became his second home. He made many good friends at Trident over the years. His brother Arthur shared, “I know my big brother loves you guys.” His family remembers him as a friendly, deeply loving, very smart, and well-spoken family man. They are thankful he is no longer in pain or suffering.
Alfredo is survived by his wife, Felicisima, which he was lovingly married to for 52 years and eight children - Jovita, Jerry, Hilda, Allan, Adriel, Esther, Victoria, and Krizelle. He was blessed with twenty-two grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren. He has five sisters, Adorina, Eufemia, Herminia, Leonila Imelda and one brother Arthur.