Ernesto Capellan Valencia

Ernesto (Ernie) Valencia passed away on June 30, 2022, at age 91, from complications from COVID. Ernie spent his last years living with his daughter and her family in Overland Park. Although his health quickly declined in the last two weeks, his final hours were peaceful, and so many of his loving relatives were gratified to be able to say goodbye at the end of his long and full life.

Ernie was born on April 2, 1931, in Lopez, in the Quezon province of the Philippines, the second of nine children born to Simon and Enriqueta Valencia. Ernie’s prodigious musical talent manifested at an early age, and his classmates often prevailed upon him to entertain. Ernie received a degree from the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Philippines. He was honored to be named Concert Master as a violinist for the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the most renowned orchestra in the region, and he played professionally with orchestras in Japan and throughout Asia. In his career, Ernie played with and for many well-known artists, such as Henry Mancini, Nat King Cole, Kathryn Grayson, Shirley MacLaine, and Paul Newman; and he entertained Philippine and American presidents (Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon), Papal Nuncios, and many other dignitaries. He was proficient on 24 instruments and with many styles of music, but he especially enjoyed playing classical and flamenco guitar.

Ernie also taught thousands of students in his career, and that vocation led directly to his meeting the love of his life. Ernie gave lessons to many members of the Urrutia family, and he and Leonor (Lenie) Urrutia were eventually married on July 19, 1967, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Manila. They enjoyed over 46 years of blissful marriage until Lenie’s passing in 2014.

In 1967, Ernie and Lenie left the Philippines and traveled to the United States as Fulbright Scholars. In 1969, while Ernie and Lenie studied at the University of Illinois, their daughter Lynnette was born. In 1970, the family moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where Ernie and Lenie lived for over 30 years, and during that time Ernie and Lenie proudly became United States citizens. In his career in the United States, Ernie served as a music professor at multiple universities, including Washburn, UMKC, and the University of Kansas.

Ernie was a faithful Catholic, and he devoted countless hours to the music ministry at many churches as a choir director and instrumentalist. With his wife Lenie, he had a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and he loved to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Ernie enjoyed watching his granddaughter grow up and join her parents in providing music for Catholic liturgies.

Ernie was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Leonor (Lenie) Urrutia Valencia; by his parents, Simon and Enriqueta Valencia; and by his siblings, Delia, Carlos, Lucita, Josefino, and Lina. He is survived by his daughter, Lynnette Valencia Rempel; his son-in-law, David Rempel; his granddaughter, Kathryn Valencia Rempel; two sisters, Meritas Valencia Calvario and Minda Valencia Escobar, who live in the Philippines; and one brother, Nilo Valencia, who lives in Ohio.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on July 20, 2022, at Ascension Catholic Church, 9510 W. 127th Street, Overland Park, Kansas. The Mass will also be livestreamed at https://youtu.be/vYbCdZ3PYW0 The Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed for Ernie’s intention at Ascension on July 19, 2022, at 7:00 p.m.

The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, 9720 W. 87th Street, Overland Park, Kansas 66212 or online at https://catholiccharitiesks.org/donate/

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mcgilleyhoge.com for the Valencia family.