Victorino S. Salamanca

April 15, 1929 - March 13, 2021

On Saturday, March 13, 2021, Victorino Soller Salamanca passed away at the age of 91. Victorino is now reunited with his late wife Ursulina Segui Salamanca, and is predeceased by two siblings. His spirit and legacy is carried on by his 11 children, 11 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, and an extended family of relations and friends from every walk of life.

“Torin”, son of Vicente and Felicisima Salamanca, was born on April 15, 1929 in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur and immigrated to the United States in 1967. A faithful and loving husband, Victorino never hesitated to express his love & affection for Ursulina, his favorite dance partner and whom he loved serenading to with Ilocano songs. Their love for each other was always on display and has flourished and endured the test of time, reaching milestone anniversaries beginning with their 25th Silver all the way to 50th Golden, 60th Diamond, and 65th Sapphire anniversaries together.

A dedicated and devoted family man, Victorino will always be remembered for his gentle demeanor and warm smile that always made you feel at home. Grandma’s and Grandpa’s was the gathering place for the whole family. At family events, you would often find him surrounded by his loving daughters around the mahjong table playing for quarters or taking themed photos in the living room. He was always asking when the next Manny Pacquiao fight would be, and would invite family over and host watch parties on fight night.

A strong and solitary man who knew how to live within his means, Victorino was the man of the house and took great pride in maintaining it. He excelled at planting, sowing seeds, growing plumeria, and caring for the many persimmon, lemon, and calamansi trees found in his garden. The fruits he shared were always shiny because he picked and cleaned the lemons and persimmons with care. His ingenuity and craftsmanship was second to none, a real MacGuyver. He had all the best tools to fix anything from houses to cars, but in the end, would always have to call his sons to help out. In his later days, he was trained very well and kept busy by dutifully washing the clothes. You could always find him rocking Technicolor shirts from his daughters’ travels or fly Adidas tracksuits.

Victorino loved the quiet pleasures of life such as reading any mystery book he can get his hands on and reading the daily newspaper checking the Super Lotto numbers. He often played the harmonica, and amassed an impressive collection. He was the TV remote master, flipping between classics like Clint Eastwood , 007, and The Godfather to epic shows like Kung Fu, Hercules, and Xena plus action movies, pro-wrestling, and anything on A&E Channel.

He had a life-long love affair with fast food like KFC, Big Macs, poke bowls and Filipino delicacies such as karabasa dinengdeng with pork (Make sure it’s pork or there’d be trouble), pulutan, papaitan, shrimp, kalding, and baka kilawen. A consummate chef, his specialty was the best, homemade tapa, dinardaaaran, and igado.

Victorino was a wise man who spoke few words during his 91 years. Yet through those sayings, he blessed us with many profound and valuable lessons to live by. He displays his baby’s elementary school art project of an accordion plant hanging up in his room with one of his favorite lines: “My Love grows and grows for You”, and he never failed to let his loved ones know that. He always knew what to say to make you feel good. He constantly reminded us that “It’s good if you like it” and “It’s good if it likes you back” to tell us to trust and believe in ourselves because he trusted and believed in us.