Evelyn Chico Mendoza

Evelyn was born on December 23, 1951, in Manila, Philippines. She was the third child among five children of Felino and Angelita Chico. She completed her elementary and high school education at the public schools in Project 4, Quezon City. Evelyn attended the Philippine College of Commerce where she obtained a degree in Advertizing and Marketing. While waiting to migrate to the United States, she went to work for the Philippine National Bank. Evelyn had a passion for dancing. She was an accomplished Hawaiian and Tahitian dancer. She taught a lot of young children on the art of Hawaiian and Tahitian dancing. Here in the U.S., she joined a Hawaiian dance troupe where she performed at various events. She was also a member of a local Filipino dance troupe here in the San Fernando Valley where they performed also at various events. And last but not least, she loves ballroom dancing. Here, she was also a member of a local ballroom dance group where they were often invited to perform at different events and celebrations. Evelyn immigrated to the United States in June of 1973 and settled in the Los Angeles area. She became a U.S. citizen in September of 1984. In 1974, she met Raffy, who was destined to become her future husband. They were married on December 2, 1978 and on July 27, 1980 God blessed them with a son, Francis Ryan. In 1986 they moved to the San Fernando Valley, where they have settled since. Evelyn’s working career was spent as a Legal Secretary, working in both the private and the government sector. She worked for more than twenty-three years at the Attorney General’s Office, Department of Justice, State of California. Evelyn’s other passion that is most dear to her heart was the propagation of the devotion to Jesus of Divine Mercy. She was introduced to this devotion back in the early 1990’s and she was hooked ever since. In 1997, she and her husband Raffy were asked to start to pray and propagate the devotion at the local parish church. They started doing it at St Joseph the Worker parish church, but ended up doing it on a more permanent basis at the Our Lady of the Valley parish church. From then on, she would invite anyone who would listen to her to join her group every Monday night in praying the devotion. She also coordinated the celebration of the nine-day novena and feast day of the Divine Mercy. She was so devoted to Jesus that she would not allow anything to disrupt the prayer, so much so that she made her physical health secondary only. Her last act on this earth was to complete her devotion to Jesus of Divine Mercy!