These names are all things that describe various facets of Febes Facey. Depending on how you knew her, you saw one…several…or all of these things. And many who knew her knew they were dealing with someone extraordinary.
Born to a Chinese merchant and a high school dropout in an arranged marriage, Febes was born on December 11, 1928 in Virac, Catanduanes in the Philippines. She was a schoolgirl when the Japanese invaded Virac in December of 1941, part of an overall occupation of the Philippines. The Japanese occupation forced the family to leave business, home and schooling and find refuge in the jungle. This caused a transition from bright student to family breadwinner, as Febes used her agility and physical skills to climb coconut trees and wade into the ocean to catch crabs and fish in order to help keep the family fed. Febes was raised with five siblings, of which two passed away when she was young. Her older siblings were Ambrosia, Marino Sr., Concepcion, Jose and Hope.
It was a unique combination of intelligence and dedication that made Febes as close to being a model student as one could possibly imagine. She sought to achieve perfect attendance in all of her classes. When given homework assignments, she observed that some of her teachers would actually use her work as the answer key, and would actually put additional pressure on herself to get every detail correct because of this observation. But even in her years of being a student, she had an elevated position in her mind for teachers and professors, getting to know many personally and maintaining relationships outside the classroom and long after coursework had been completed.
Febes’s voracious work ethic and intelligence resulted in her successfully earning degrees, often in very compressed time frames. While World War II disrupted her normal schooling, she completed a high school degree program in one year and then entered University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines. Febes earned her Bachelors Degree in Accounting from University of San Carlos, graduating summa cum laude. Her logical mind permitted her to work hard without succumbing to the usual distractions of college life. She would tackle an assignment and work through it before moving onto the next project. Upon graduation, she passed the CPA Examination with a score that put her in the top 10 in the Philippines on that year’s exam.
Febes had already started working professionally prior to graduating from college. Her sister Concepcion and her husband owned a grocery store, and Febes was the person trusted to negotiate with all the independent growers and suppliers who would supply the store in the predawn hours prior to opening. Upon graduation, Febes began to work for a conglomerate owned by a friend of her brother in law. She quickly rose in status and influence within the company….but she wanted something else.
One day, she saw an advertisement in the Manila Bulletin that the US Embassy was accepting applications for Fulbright Scholarships. She applied for and received this scholarship, and then was admitted to the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, earning her MBA in 1957. She returned to the Philippines after Stanford, but then came back to America on a Ford Foundation Scholarship to earn a doctorate at NYU. Her favorite professor was Ludwig von Mises, and it was in his class that she met her husband, Edward. They exchanged wedding vows at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Ossining, New York on July 5, 1964. Shortly thereafter, she gave birth to two children, Edward Jr “Eddie” and Elizabeth “Betty”. Ed encouraged her to try teaching, which resulted in both of them teaching at St, John’s University (and Febes, being the consistent overachiever, also commuted to Manhattan to teach night classes at Columbia University).
With two young children and a husband who was still working on his doctoral dissertation, Febes decided to bring her family back to the Philippines, where she resumed her executive career. After a few years, with the realization that her travel schedule did not facilitate being there for her children as much as she liked, it was time to prioritize….wealth and corporate success or family and motherhood. Febes chose family.
In 1970, the family moved back to New York, where both Edward and Febes resumed their careers at St John’s University. Then, one day, at a seminar put on by the Foundation of Economic Education, Edward and Febes met the President of Hillsdale College, who shared a vision of a college that extolled the virtues of free market capitalism. The college wanted to recruit Edward as an economics professor, but was told that the Drs. Facey were a package deal. As a liberal arts college, there was not an emphasis on business courses, and there was no accounting major, but they agreed to hire both of the Faceys, and in 1973, the family moved to Hillsdale, MI.
This became a start of a 21-year tenure of teaching at Hillsdale. As someone who believed in herself and the value of what she could share with students, Febes set about to create an Accounting major at Hillsdale. She was told that there was no budget for such a program, and reluctant faculty members were critical of a “vocational” program like accounting coming to their liberal arts college. But Febes persevered, telling the college that she would teach any additional necessary coursework herself, without asking for overtime pay or additional resources. The result was that by the mid-1980s, Accounting was the major at Hillsdale with the most graduates, she had won two “Professor of the Year” awards, and was the highest compensated faculty member on campus.
Febes loved teaching, and loved the impact she had on generations of Hillsdale students. While she understood the need to teach the subject matter in the books, there were always things about life that she shared with her classes – whether it be simple punctuality, honesty, or insights in succeeding in a career beyond the classroom. Her unique experiences, insights, and ability to tell stories are what made her courses at Hillsdale interesting and impactful. She regularly received notes, visits and stories from successful graduates, sharing their success and letting her know the impact she made on their lives.
Febes always had a strong faith, but it was during her time at Hillsdale that she began implementing personal daily prayer and meditation in her life. In her retirement, she attended daily masses, at St Anthony’s Church in Hillsdale and ultimately at St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Church in her retirement in Las Vegas. If she knew someone, it was likely that she was praying for them to have something good happen in their lives, or at least to pray that suffering of those around her would be alleviated.
Edward and Febes retired in Hillsdale for many years, ultimately moving to Las Vegas in 2011 to be nearer to their children, with Eddie living in Las Vegas and Betty living in Los Angeles. Febes was very active in caring for Ed until his passing in 2016, upon which she moved into the Acacia Springs Retirement Community. She was a resident of Acacia Springs at the time of her passing.
Febes passed away on January 30, 2023 at ProCare Hospice in Las Vegas, Nevada, with pancreatic cancer that had only been diagnosed a week prior to her passing. She is survived by her son, Eddie (JoEllen), Daughter Betty (David) and many loving nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. Services were held at Palm Southwest Mortuary in Las Vegas, Nevada. Febes was laid to rest in Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Boulder City, Nevada.
Contributions in Febes' name are suggested to http://www.lingapcenter.org
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