Carmelita Rapinan Ignacio

Carmelita Rapiñan Ignacio, affectionately known as Carmen or Charms, passed away on Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center in Las Vegas, NV due to complications from COVID-19.

Carmen was born on November 25, 1956 in Manila, Philippines. While attending High School at Saint Joseph’s Academy, she met her one and only love Cayet. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from St. Paul College, Carmen and Cayet married on January 18, 1978 in a secret ceremony, and celebrated a church wedding on March 16, 1980 in the early years of Cayet’s career in the U.S. Navy.

Carmen and Cayet were blessed with three daughters. They were all born during Cayet’s active duty career, so Carmen and Cayet raised them in various states and even overseas in Yokusuka, Japan.

As a military spouse and mother, Carmen still worked full-time and built the American dream with Cayet. She worked hard and played hard. Carmen loved traveling the world with Cayet, shopping, dining out, hosting parties, organizing gatherings, dining with friends, spoiling her kids and grandkids, and being right.

Carmen is survived by her husband and high school sweetheart, Cayetano ‘Cay/Cayet/Tano’ Ignacio, daughters Charmela Griffith, Ciara Johnson, and Cerisa Moncayo , their husbands, and her six grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life is scheduled in her honor on July 3rd 2021 at 4:00pm at Palm Northwest Mortuary, 6701 N Jones Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89131. She lived fearlessly, loved hard, laughed often, and gave generously. Among the many life lessons she wrote about in her memoir, she concluded with “be open to changes and possibilities.”