Dr. Priscila Roque Santos-Pizarro, M.D.

Priscila R. Santos-Pizarro, M.D. passed peacefully with her family beside her on November 3, 2021, 12:04 PM, in San Diego, California. She is survived by her husband Tony Pizarro, CWO4, USN Ret., her son Gerard Pizarro, Esq., her daughter Wendy Pizarro Campbell, Esq., her daughter-in-law Tina Pizarro, her son-in-law Brian Campbell, and her loving grandsons John (Jack) Pizarro Campbell (18), Tyler Joseph (TJ) Pizarro Campbell (15), and Henry Pizarro (10).

Priscila was born on October 8, 1929, in Orion, Bataan, Philippines, to Feliciano and Virginia Roque Santos as the 2nd youngest of six siblings: Pedro, Federico, Concordia, Rogelia, Alberto, and Francisco, who have all predeceased her. As children of WWII, they fled to the mountains of Bataan to evade enemy capture. Priscila graduated from the University of Santo Tomas Medical School, Class of 1955, in Manila, Philippines. She also earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia, founded in 1611.

Priscila emigrated to the United States in the late 1950’s and became a physician in the field of Internal Medicine and later as a Child and Adult Psychiatrist. In 1961, Priscila met a young sailor, Tony Pizarro, who first visited her at Jewish Memorial Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, when he had heard that a beautiful single doctor from the Philippines was practicing there. Although both hailed from the same hometown of Orion, Bataan, they had never met before. After a year-long courtship, Priscila and Tony wed on June 23, 1962, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Boston, Massachusetts. They had two children, Gerard and Wendy, and Priscila would later enjoy returning to Boston over thirty-five years later to see her daughter graduate from the Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Upon moving to the West Coast in 1968, Priscila became a pioneer in the medical field as one of the only women of color in California tackling difficult issues of mental illness in children and adolescents as well as serving as an expert on gang identification and violence for minority and youth communities.

Priscila became a highly renowned and acclaimed physician as Chief of Psychiatry and a Professor at University of California, Irvine, and an Assistant Chief of Psychiatry at VA Long Beach. In 1974, she settled her family in San Diego and distinguished herself as a Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Diego, and became the Chief of Medical Staff at the San Diego County of Mental Health, 1975 - 2002. Priscila was also in private practice as a family physician and psychiatrist for over 40 years and would often bring her young son to her medical office in Hillcrest to see patients on Saturdays.

Priscila was passionate about helping those in need and was Chairwoman of the Medical and Dental Missions in the Philippines for over 17 years through the International Lions Club, providing free medical check-ups and free medicine to 3,500 people annually. Priscila was always thrilled to go on medical missions to the Provinces of Laguna, Aklan, Bataan, Bicol, Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija, Samar, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, and Zambales. They also administered medical services to the unforgotten Native Aetas of Bataan and Zambales. She also volunteered her services as

Priscila also believed in giving back to her hometown of Orion, Bataan. Together with her husband, Tony, and family and friends, Priscila built two chapels and a library, led a book donation drive with Miramar College to complete the library collection, led a clean-up of the town’s polluted river, refurbished the Bataan Death March markers that lined the province, supported the feeding program and donated school supplies to local elementary schools, created student scholarships at Jose Rizal Institute, donated bleacher seats to the town and financed and built a community of 42 homes under the Gawad Kalinga “Giving Care” program for the extremely impoverished and underprivileged. In 2008, Priscila rallied family and friends in the U.S. and abroad to travel to Orion with her to move dirt and help build the “Santos-Pizarro GK Village.”

Throughout her life, Priscila was an active community leader: a founder and President of the Bataan Association of Southern California, board member and benefactor to the University of Santo Tomas Medical Alumni Association Foundation, chartered President of the San Diego Cosmopolitan Lion’s Club, and a founding member of the Philippine Medical Association of San Diego and the Orion Community Association.

Priscila received numerous awards in her life, some of which include: Who’s Who in California, 1975, UST Medical Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award, 1990, International Women’s Award, 1992, Urban League Award, 1994, Lion of the Year, 2000, Lion’s International Award, 2002, Special U.S. Congressional Recognition for Service, 2012, Lion’s International Governor’s Award for her Medical Missions, 1999-2011, Filipino American Military Officer’s Association Military Spouse of the Year, 2019, and Pillar, Pioneer & Philanthropist’s Award from the Philippine American Business Improvement District, 2019.

After her retirement for over 10 years, as a great woman of faith, Priscila attended daily mass at the Church of the Nativity in Rancho Santa Fe, CA and co-led its rosary group. As a firm believer of the power of prayer, she also was instrumental in the development of the open-air Divine Mercy Shrine & Prayer Site on a picturesque hill in Encinitas, CA as a primary benefactor.

Priscila also took satisfaction in building her dream home in 2009 at Fairbanks Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe, California. 25 years in the making, Priscila and Tony bought the land in 1984, and together they designed and built their dream house where the family estate stands today. Priscila especially enjoyed sitting by the outdoor fireplace, watching her grandchildren swim in the back yard, and savoring her many blessings in life.

Atop the fireplace sits two plaques: “God, Family & Country,” and, “Home Is Where Our Story Begins,” emblematic of Priscila’s life journey and devotion to her family and embodied in the clarity of her faith, mission, vision, and boundless love.