Arman Paolo Sage Curameng Dela Cruz

Arman was born in Batac, Philippines on December 20th, 1997. A few years later, he and his family moved to Memphis — a city Arman admired and always regarded as his home. He graduated from Bon Lin Elementary, Bon Lin Middle, and Bolton High School. Finally in May 2023, Arman graduated from the University of Memphis Herff College of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and a Minor in Creative Writing.

Arman’s professional life started at Charles River Laboratories, where he interned for Quality Operations and later established a job as a QC Analyst for Microbiology. Later on, after months of persisting, Arman got accepted to a job with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a Production and Quality Assistant for Children’s GMP in October 2025. Even in his short time there, Arman developed a deep appreciation and pride for St. Jude and his colleagues.

Arman always had a passion and curiosity for life. Whether that be loving animals and dinosaurs as a kid to trying out for every sport that interested him in school to wanting to voice act and write because of his favorite television shows he’d watch with his sisters, he gave everything a shot because he had the faith in himself to try. Above all else, Arman loved his Memphis sports teams, especially the Grizzlies. Arman was an avid fan, reminiscing about the good ole Grit and Grind era to Ja/Jaren being the face of the franchise. Even in his road to recovery, all he wanted besides a healthy body was for the Grizzlies to win a championship. (Arman wanted a parade inside his city, yeah.)

Anyone near Arman knew they were bound to laugh. And he took pride in leaning into his humor — often stirring jokes in places where jokes shouldn’t exist and making memes that were so nonsensical you couldn’t help but laugh anyway. In so many downtrodden moments, Arman was the reason his family smiled. And even in moments of his pain and hardship, he fought valiantly to keep his own smile as well.

Arman is preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Arnulfo Dela Cruz Sr. and Zenaida Dela Cruz and his maternal Lola, Minda Curameng. He is survived by his dedicated father Arnulfo Dela Cruz Jr, his loving mother Noemi Dela Cruz, his older sister Armie Shannen, his younger sister Armaine, and his two beloved pugs Marcel and Leo — along with the countless family and friends who love him dearly and hold so many memories with him.

Arman, our beloved Balong, Kuya, “Piccolo”, baby brother, son, and friend. No matter what his circumstances were, Arman always planned for the future with all the experiences he wanted to achieve, the many foods he wanted to eat, and the many places he wanted to go. Even in his brief time on Earth, his love, humor, and perseverance live on with anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.

“The only thing we're allowed to do is to believe that we won't regret the choice we made.” — Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama

A visitation will be held at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, located at 3700 North Germantown Parkway, Bartlett, TN 38133, United States, on February 7, 2026, from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm.

Following the visitation, a memorial service will take place at the same location from 2:00 pm to 2:40 pm.