Rosalina E. Castelo

Rosalina Castelo was born on Oct 12, 1927 in San Felipe, San Manuel, Tarlac as the 2nd child of 11 children. Being the oldest daughter in the family, she helped take care of her younger siblings. When she was a teenager, she met a woman evangelist who invited her to attend her religious meetings. Subsequently, she decided to accept Christ in her life. She started sharing her beliefs to her parents which converted her whole family to the Adventist church. She attended Northern Luzon Academy for her high school education and proceeded to Philippine Union College graduating with a Bachelors in Elementary Education. She went back to her hometown to teach where some of her younger siblings became her students. She met Cornelio Castelo, an elementary teacher from a nearby town. They got married and started their family in Carino, Panique, Tarlac where they had 3 children. Due to asthma problems excacerbated by confinement in a classroom, she and her husband decided to start their own business called LeoRosMel Food Factory where they sold rice pops, cornicks and other snacks. Their successful business allowed them to provide Christian educations for their children. With financial support from their family, Rosalina and Cornelio later pioneered a church in San Felipe which later branched out to a school which is now considered one of the best Christian elementary school in the region. Aside from her passion to serve God, her next passion was to serve her family. She took care of all her grandchildren taking the role of a second mother. In 1994, she and her husband migrated to the U.S. In 1997, her husband died of lung cancer. Since then she lived with her youngest child where she lived an active lifestyle doing housework (gardening, cleaning, cooking). Her spiritual life was nourished with daily bible reading and other religious books and magazines. Her favorite TV shows were Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and I Love Lucy. She led a healthy life, eating healthy foods and using natural remedies. On Dec 12, she complained of feeling weak. She went to urgent care and was diagnosed with hypokalemia but was resolved after 3 days in the hospital. After being discharged, she continued to feel weak. On Jan 8, she was admitted at LLUMC after accidentally falling. She was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. On Jan 16, she was discharged to home on hospice care. On Jan 19, 11:23pm, she took her last breath surrounded by her family after being anointed by Pastor Manalo and Pastor Guadiz. She lived her life instilling the values of living in Christ through daily prayer and devotional.

Arrangements under the direction of Montecito Memorial Park & Mortuary, Colton, California.