Angeles Yap Suarez

Angeles Dumlao Yap was born on November 7, 1930 in the small, sleepy town of Lebak, Cotabato (now Sultan Kudarat) to Judge Cornelio Atrero Yap, the town’s justice of the peace, and Monica Fontelera Dumlao, both natives of Candelaria, Zambales. When Judge Yap unexpectedly died of malaria before Angeles turned two, the young widow Monica decided to move back to and raise her family in Candelaria.

The youngest among the siblings of two boys and two girls, Angeles spent a happy childhood in Candelaria, growing up with her brothers, sister, and cousins in the large ancestral house in the middle of town, just a short walk to the beach and the square. Fondly called Geling, she went to the town’s elementary school, finishing on top as the class valedictorian. When the family moved to Manila, she studied high school and college in the big city, graduating with a degree in Accountancy in 1952. She went on to become a CPA after passing the board exams that same year.

She started her career as a money counter at the Philippine National Bank, then the country’s largest bank. Known as Angie to her co-workers, she was assigned to different branches, while working her way up to become the manager of the branch along Vito Cruz Avenue until her retirement in 1985.

She met her future husband at the bank. The tall, dark and handsome Aurelio Vister Suarez Jr. was also a CPA and a lawyer. They married on January 26, 1963 at the historic San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila. They was blessed with three children – Carmencita (Babette), herself a CPA and currently a Principal Accountant at the San Diego County’s Department of Housing and Community Development; Ferdinand Rommel (Boyet), a Tourism and European languages major and currently an Airport Sales Agent at United Airlines at the Los Angeles International Airport; and Maria Theresa ( May), a Business Administration graduate and currently a Court Operations Clerk at the San Diego County Superior Court. The family lived in the house built by the couple in Marikina Heights in the city of Marikina.

When Aurelio died in 1978 at the age of 54, Angeles did not remarry and raised the young children by herself. She kept herself busy with her job at PNB, climbing up the corporate ladder, while looking after the kids. She did a great job, with the children making her proud by graduating from college one after the other while she rose to become a branch manager.

Babette moved to the United States in 1989 and petitioned her mother to immigrate when she became a US citizen. Angeles immigrated in May 1994 and settled in National City, a suburb of San Diego. She endeavored to get her two remaining children from the Philippines to immigrate to the US as well. May moved to the US in 2004 and Boyet arrived in 2009.

For her 80th birthday, the children planned a big surprise party for her, inviting all their relatives and some friends to a celebration in Babette’s residence in Rancho Bernardo. It was a huge success, as more than 80 people came to greet the celebrant.

In the latter part of June 2013, Angeles complained of shortness of breath. The doctors found a coronary blockage in her heart and suggested a triple bypass, which they performed on July 2, 2013. She was on the road to recovery when an infection in her gall bladder was discovered. It was, however, too late as sepsis had set in. She breathed her last just before noon on July 7, 2013.

After a two-night viewing at the Little Chapel of Roses, she was interred at the Glen Abbey Memorial Park in Bonita, CA at noon on July 13, 2013.

Angeles is survived by her only sister, Nativdad Dumlao Yap-Abad of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; her three children; her two sons-in-law, Jalandoni (Lannie) Baltazar and Danilo (Jun) Cruz Jr.; and her three grandchildren, Trisha and Joshua Baltazar and Danielle Cruz.