Hipolita Lucas Fernandez

Hipolita Fernandez, nee Lucas, was born on August 13, 1930 in Olowalu, Lahaina, Maui, the Hawaiian-born daughter of hardworking, Ilocano Filipino immigrants. Her father, Ignacio Lucas, "cut cane" in the sugarcane fields. Her mother, Flaviana Lucas, worked in a pineapple canning factory. She played on Lahaina's fabled beaches long before they became a tourist destination, and planted a mango seed that grew into a fruit-bearing tree.

When she was six, she and her parents returned to the Philippines. It wasn't until she applied for, and was denied, a Philippine passport as an adult that she discovered that she was American by birth.

As a little girl, her daughter, Fe, thought her mother was the smartest woman in the world because she could answer any question she was asked. Her mother had a prodigious memory, remembering not just the birthdays of her immediate family, but also the ones of all her nephews and nieces. The stateside relatives could expect a phone call from her on their natal day.

She was an accomplished musician, proficient in piano, harp, and violin. She sang beautifully, solo or in harmony with others. At times, she would play a song's melody on her violin and sing in harmony with it.

She was blessed with physical beauty until the day she died, a day before what would have been her 93rd birthday. Once, on an airplane, a seatmate asked her if she was Miss Bannawag, an Ilocana beauty queen. (She was not.)

While in college, she caught the eye of Gil Gutierrez Fernandez, who courted her with ardent love letters. As was the custom at that time, both sets of parents met formally, and after some discussion, Hipolita's parents gave their permission for the union to proceed. They were married on March 18, 1956.

A few years ago, a local American friend attended an international meeting at which he met a Filipino friend of the Fernandezes. The Filipino informed the American that "Gil Fernandez is the smartest man in the Philippines!"

So there you have it - the smartest woman in the world married the smartest man in the Philippines and they produced two wonderful children, Gil Lucas Fernandez (Marjorie) and Fe Fernandez Hevener (Dennis).

After marriage Hipolita willingly and joyously took on the unpaid role of pastor's wife. She went on to become a college professor, and culminated her professional career as Chair of the English Department at the Adventist University of the Philippines. She impacted the lives of many of her students.

Besides her husband and children, she has left behind five grandchildren, John Andrew Fernandez, Julia Fernandez (Jorge), Mariel Trimble (Brian), Ross Hevener (Katharine), and Rina Fernandez-Vo (Nam), and six great-grandchildren, David, Callista, Simran, Jacob, Roderick, and Axel.

She was a warrior for God and loved her family fiercely. She died secure in the hope that she would see them again when Jesus returns.