Hi Papa ~ thank you for always being there for me when I needed you. Miss you tremendously. We love you. ~ Marissa

Hope you like it too Papa.

We shared so many years of happy memorable moments notwithstanding the challenges of life partnership & having our own family. We met in Jan.  1969, was 17y/0. On a late afternoon, you showed up at the gate of our Caloocan City home. You introduced yourself as a “best friend “ of Kuya Ramon who’s new assignment was confidential! He requested you to bring his gifts for our family. Kuya knew I loved to collect Parker fountain pens & long playing albums of the Beatles. Hesitant to let you in, Spot the dog hovered & barked at you, you didn’t care about the dog. You still had to pass the scrutiny of Tiong Felipe. I don’t know what you told him but he instantly let you in! So when Inay & Itay arrived late in the evening, I told them about a “best friend” of Kuya from Kitty Hawk, with Kuya’s gifts for the family. Days went by, Tony met Inay & Itay, had many frequent dinners with us, followed by permits from them to visit every so often. He brought 1 huge box of chocolates from the commissary, With some paranoia,  I accepted it but offered a handful to our maid (she loved it) when he left, they became instant friends; she would let him in & called me for a “visitor”! Tiong Felipe just loved hearing his stories, they became buddies. The dog Spot, learned to love Tony too! The day came when he had to go back to the States, he gave me a “Steady BF/GF” ring & promised to return as soon as he gets settled with his new assignment. And the story goes,he didn’t have to leave, he was assigned in Sangley Point to be able to care for his ailing mother. So more visits, more calls 4-5x daily, On one of his day off, he wanted to come see me, he never forgot my response , he said “ Ang sabi mo sa  akin: Dalawin mo na Lang ang Nanay mo” He laughed so hard, I had no idea what I said! We stayed “steady” for the entire 5 yrs of BSN program (5 yr. curriculum then). Tony became friends with my classmates & the boyfriends, he met several medical students who asked him who his girlfriend was, he knew of some doctors from UST, more than I did! Graduation  was in April 1973, 2 classmates got married, in Oct. 1973, Tony & I followed, got married at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in QC. Marissa was the 1st born, Vivian the middle child, Ted - the youngest. So from June of 1984 to date, we stayed in San Jose. In 2007, we acquired what would be our vacation/ retirement home in Sac’to. We used to go there on my long stretch off, returned to SJ to work . We love to stay there for R & R. 
with Marissa & Vivian visiting from EDH.  He had his kidney transplant in June 2010, had a monthly Belatecept infusion, I learned to drive to & from the Sac. home, he was a strict navigator. Then, he had a STeMI while in ICU, he had stents placed on 12/24/19, back on dialysis in 1/2020 bec. the transplanted kidney of 10 yrs. started to reject. Back then, COVID-19 was just starting to affect people in  CA. He was fortunate to test negative 6x, in Aug. ‘20- he went home s/p left below the knee amputation; a big adjustment to his quality of life but we learned to cope, I told him “ we will be in this together !!!”. He started having caregivers to assist him & I in his daily schedule, I would wait for the nite staff to come in @3:45a, then I go to sleep. I became his primary RN when the caregivers were off. Came 12/28/20, he got sick, I stayed with him , cared for him, called 911 @8a w the help of Marvin (nephew- am caregiver), he was alert & kept interacting with us, but veryweak. He was admitted same day,  weak with a bad Covid pneumonia but didn’t have to be on a ventilator. On 1/6/21, Chaplain Andrew arranged for Papa to be blessed by Fr. Angelo & Jasmine called Msgr. Gene (retired pastor of SFOA), gave Tony another blessing via video visit. We continued to video visit with him, we could see how he struggled although he would repeatedly utter “Mama” & “Bella”.  On 1/7/21 his primary MD, a nephrologist called me & told me that Tony continues to have trouble with tolerating his dialysis & that his health continues to decline. Then the Palliative team called together with MDs,RNs,Chaplain- we had a reality talk about the prognosis of Tony. I told them to abide by the wish of Tony per directive  & signed “POLST” with me as his designated representative, it was such a Difficult Moment for me, but it was not about me, it was Tony’s— so I said, if he has to go, let him do it  with comfort & dignity, no more dialysis, no intubation, no CPR—- just comfort measures. As a family, we were allowed to video visit with him frequently, and we did even with the grandkids, for some reason I have 2 photos of him on my phone (which I never thought I did), his last before he passed on 1/8/21 @ 1:35am. The MD told me he looked peaceful, no struggle, just like in his normal sleep. My last words for him were:  “God is now in control, I surrender Papa Tony to You dear Lord, May he Rest In Peace with You, as You protected him & his family. Thank you for 50 + yrs. Papa, we will pray for your Eternal Rest, Happiness in Heaven. Forever missed, forever in my heart, and our children & ourgrandkids. Sweet Goodbye, Papa Tony....Love, Mama Cora❤️❤️❤️

Hi,

My name is Romy Lu, a few-months younger cousin of Manoy Tony.  His dad was my dad's uncle. They immigrated to the Philippines from Fujian, China.  They settled and raised their families at Prieto Diaz and Gubat, neighboring towns of Sorsogon province (located in the Bicol Region of the Philippines - for those not familiar with RP).  Manoy Tony and his parents soon moved to Manila City.

As youngsters, we often found ourselves playing backyard basketball whenever he visited us back in the province.  He would use that familiar hook-shot, like the one shown in one of the pictures (see pictures tab).  With his towering height over his then 'midget' cousins and other players, he dominated the games like LeBron (James). 

My younger brother Charlie remembers Manoy Tony as the one who 'introduced' the transistor radio to us 'barrio' kids.   We admired his electronics knowhow, as grandpas marvel today at little grandkids navigate the iPhone. He sported long sideburns, which made him look like Elvis.  Indeed, many local young girls found him very attractive (so they told me).     

We lost touch of each other during our college years, although both of us graduated from Mapua.  That's because we must have been very busy with our studies (isn't that true, Manay Cora?), or could it be his joining the US Navy?  But many years later I got a call from San Jose during one Christmas day while we were in Ohio, where I raised my family since coming to the US.  Soon we were 'close' cousins again.

May you rest in peace, Manoy Tony.

Romy and Alyce  (Myro and Mahalynn)

      

In the late 1960's, I met Tony in the Kittyhawk US Navy aircraft carrier when I was transferred from San Diego. I was assigned a bunk bed quite close to his so we formed a friendship among thousands in that carrier. When he had a chance to go home to visit his family in Manila, I asked a favor of him to bring a present for my family.

I left the carrier shortly thereafter and did not see each other again for sometime.

Little did I know that when we would meet again he would be my brother in law.  He must have been lovestruck that first meeting with my sister Cora bearing that fateful gift he brought with him for my family.  I am sure there were several more gifts and visits thereafter, but certainly those were mostly visits  and gifts for Cora only

May you rest in peace, Bayaw.