Jesus Villamor "Bill" T Balais

It is with great sadness that the family of Jesus Villamor “Bill” T. Balais, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather passed away peacefully at his home in Chula Vista, California at the great age of 83 on Thursday, February 6, 2025. He is survived by his loving wife, Ofelia “Opie” Balais and their 3 children: Beatriz Lee “Bing” (Mark), Bill Pierre (Phyllis) and Barbara Anne (Ariel) and 8 grandchildren: Matthew and Brandon, Jessica, Justin, Jami and Jiana, Allison and Ava and 2 great grandchildren Kaden and Kairo.

Bill was born in Lucban, Quezon, Philippines on January 7, 1942, to Pedro and Rufina Balais. In his teens, he worked part-time at the family-owned restaurant as a chef assistant and learned several recipes and cooking techniques. He grew to love cooking and mastered many dishes such as his signature egg foo young, his aromatic egg flower soup and his tender steamboat roast. His academic interests led Bill to attend Arellano Law School in Cabanatuan City in the Philippines, but his career goals led him to enlist in the United States Navy and navigate a path and life experiences away from the comforts of home.

After 20 honorable years of service, Bill retired from the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer and from there accepted a position as a contract specialist at SPAWAR San Diego. He later retired from civil service in 2003. As a retiree, Bill focused his time as an active participant in his community where he was the president of the Quezon Association of San Diego, involved in the Fil-Am Community, the Knights of Columbus, Holy Name Society and was a regular usher at Sunday mass at St. Charles Catholic Church in Imperial Beach.

In his spare time, he enjoyed playing tennis and venturing to the local casinos playing his favorite casino game – the slot machine. Additionally, Bill spent time helping his wife Ofelia take care of the grandchildren and loved being with them at theme parks, family celebrations or just enjoying a family meal with them. Bill was fond of reading and writing and introspective about his life experiences yet inspired to write a book about the challenges he endured during his time working in civil service as a contract specialist. This experience led to his published book called, “The Lady is Blind” and fulfillment of one of Bill’s lifetime goals.

On February 2nd of this year through the Lord’s grace, Bill was able to celebrate his 56th wedding anniversary with his wife Ofelia, the love of his life. Bill and Ofelia shared a quiet day celebrating and reflecting on their journey as husband and wife. They always emphasized that the keys to their successful marriage was to trust and support each other, love unconditionally, laugh, share and work together and smile and the whole world will smile with you.

Bill will be greatly missed. He was stoic, a man with a few words but on occasion made you laugh with his unique sense of humor. Most of all he had the biggest heart. He was hard-working and dedicated to his family taking on additional part-time work often during graveyard hours. Bill’s number one priority was his family – he made countless sacrifices to provide them with a better life especially his children setting the example through humility, hard work, education and integrity.

We remember and honor his life lessons, unconditional love, kindness, generosity and dedication to his family.

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