Consuelo "Ellie" Manalo Rapaido

"Ellie" was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and is survived by her five daughters and one son (Eleanor Landry, Rosalie Soranidis, Jocelyn Rapaido-Ritua, Cynthia Rapaido, Roderic Rapaido, and Jessica Rapaido-Ybarra), her ten grandchildren (Renato Teroy, Taylor Salazar, Aristides Soranidis, Kyle Landry, Ileana Hinojosa, Jacqueline Silavong, Alexandria Aceto, Victoria Ritua, Alexis McDonald, and Ciera Ybarra), and her two great-grandchildren (Emery and Alana Silavong). She shared 60 beautiful years of marriage with her late husband, Ernesto "Ernie" Cuevas Rapaido.

Ellie's life was defined by her unwavering love for her family. She left behind a legacy of warmth, laughter, and support that will forever be cherished. She will be dearly missed and forever remembered for her love, laughter, and nurturing spirit.

Visitation, Funeral Service, and Reception for Consuelo "Ellie" Manalo Rapaido will be held:

Sunday, November 5, 2023

Glen Abbey's Magnolia Room

3838 Bonita Road, Bonita, CA 91902

Visitation: 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM

Funeral Service: 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Reception: 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Internment:

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Miramar National Cemetery

5795 Nobel Drive, San Diego, CA 92122

Arrive by 11:00 a.m. (Start time: 11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.)

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.glenabbeysandiego.net for the Rapaido family.

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Consuelo “Elong/Ellie” Manalo Rapaido

May 26, 1939 - October 10, 2023

Written by Cynthia Rapaido, Ed.D. (daughter and child #4)

My mother, Consuelo (AKA Elong, Ellie, and El) Manalo Rapaido, was born on May 26, 1939. Her mother/my grandmother was from Tanza, a province of Cavite, Philippines. Her name was Rufina Chacon Enriquez, which later changed to Rufina Enriquez Manalo when she married my grandfather, Placido Estores Manalo from Rosario (formerly known as Salinas), another province of Cavite, Philippines.

Consuelo was born in Rosario (Salinas), Philippines. She was the fifth child of seven children - Zenaida (Zeny Abarro), Ricardo (Carding Manalo), Armando (Mading) Manalo, Rosalinda (Lucy Prudente), my mom, followed by Carmen (Menchu Manalo) and Placido Jr. (Jun Manalo). Consuelo was the last of the Manalo siblings to pass away at the age of 84.

A few years ago, I started collecting my Mom’s life stories. I want to share with you what she shared with me as highlights of her life.

She described her parents as easy-going. They were not strict. Her father was always smiling, same with her mom. Her mother didn’t talk too much but she would just give a “look” which meant, “behave.” Her father didn’t stay in Cavite City much because he had a ranch in Bataan where he raised cows. He also had a “baboyan” (a pig house/pen) at the “palenke” (a term for Filipino outdoor marketplace). What she remembered about her father was that he liked listening to debates and poetry on the radio ,and he also liked writing poems.

Her mother owned a store at the “palenke”. As a child, her mother was always busy, and everyone in the family was busy helping at the store. When they were done for the day, her mother led the prayers, in Tagalog, at 6:00 p.m. All the family prayed together at the altar in their family home. Her mother enjoyed going to the casino to play the “8 numbers”, a Filipino casino game.

As for Consuelo’s siblings, she felt that all of them were protective over her. Her older brother, Mading was the strict one who also disciplined the younger siblings. In fact, he did not want her to ride a bike when she was young. He told her, “Girls are supposed to act like a girl and not like a boy.” That did not stop her - she learned how to ride a bike! She also liked to read Filipino comics but had to hide it from her brother, Mading. Her other brother, Carding, was not as strict. For example, Consuelo would wake him up and he would help her with her homework. He also taught her how to drive when she was an adult.

My mom’s childhood memories were described to me with the following stories:

My mom told the story about a miracle. In 1943, (at the age of 4), while playing with her sister, Lucy, upstairs in the house, Consuelo fell down from a 2nd floor window. She landed on a mound of broken glass that her father placed there for recycling. People in the neighborhood found out about the accident and were amazed that my mom survived and had no cuts or injuries.

Sometime between 1942 and 1945, when the Japanese soldiers occupied the Philippines during WWII, she recalled that the Japanese soldiers captured the adult men and kept them in the Elementary School in Rosario. Luckily, her father was not captured because he was always out of town. She also recalled the Japanese soldiers would go to her godmother’s house and play the piano. Consuelo was afraid of the Japanese soldiers and did not talk with them. Her family then moved to Cavite City, Philippines. Although Consuelo was too young to attend class as a 1st grader, she would go to Mrs. Santos’ class. Mrs. Santos was a neighbor and a teacher.

In 1946, at the age of 7, Consuelo started 1st grade at Caridad Elementary School. While at school, she loved playing on and climbing the mango tree branches.

In 1951, at the age of 12, Consuelo started 7th grade at Cavite High School, and graduated with the class of 1955.

In 1955, at the age of 16, after high school graduation, her sister, Lucy, encouraged my mom to attend The University of Mapua, located in Manila, Philippines. At the university they had an engineering program - which her sister was in; and a business program, which Consuelo was in. Their older brothers, Mading and Carding, both joined the US Navy, and sent money home to their mom to help pay for Lucy and Consuelo’s college expenses. When Lucy got married, Consuelo transferred to the University of the East, which was known for their business program. While at the University of the East, she was a member of Student Catholic Action, Sociology Club, and Cicrulo Espanol.

In March 1959, at the age of 19, my mom graduated from the University of the East with a degree in Business Administration with a major in Banking and Finance. (She did not attend her graduation because she got married the same month—March 15, 1959!)

MY MOM ~ A MARRIED WOMAN AND MOTHER ~

In June 1958, Consuelo and her sister, Menchu, were at a bus stop in Manila. Menchu recognized Ernie Rapaido—he was the older brother of one of her friends, Zeny Rapaido. This is where and when my mom, Consuelo met my dad, Ernie, her future husband. Consuelo’s siblings Lucy and Mading, and Ernie were high school classmates. When Mading and Ernie graduated from high school in 1953, they both enlisted in the US Navy and were stationed in Olongapo, Philippines.

At the age of 19, on March 15, 1959, Consuelo and Ernie got married in Rosario, Cavite.

At the age of 20, in Dec 1959, Child #1, Eleanor (Lennie), was born in the Philippines on Dec 18. While she was pregnant with Lennie, she craved sweet potatoes!

At the age of 21 In July 1960, Consuelo, Ernie, and Lennie—who was barely 1 year old, traveled from the Philippines to the U.S. on the ship USS General Barrett. My mom was pregnant with their second daughter, Sally. They did not fly because that was Ernie’s assignment as a Navy man.. Everyone on the ship was part of the military family (dependents). My father had a cabin assigned to them, and Lennie had a crib. She described Lennie as a good girl who didn’t cry. Consuelo described the boat trip as terrible because she experienced sea sickness and morning sickness while they traveled across the Pacific for approximately a month. The ship traveled from the Philippines, to Guam, to Hawaii, which was the first US territory that Consuelo stood on, and then continued on to Fort Mason, in San Francisco, California. Consuelo’s oldest sister, Zeny Abarro, picked them up, invited them to stay at their house in Daly City, California, for three weeks while Ernie left for duty in Stockton, California, and he was able to get housing. One day while out grocery shopping, and still pregnant with Sally, Consuelo had her purse snatched out of her hand while putting groceries away in the car. That was a shocking welcome to the United States.

Still, at the age of 21, in Jan 1961, Child #2, Rosalie (Sally), was born in Stockton, California on Jan 24. Consuelo did not recall any particular cravings while pregant with Sally.

At the age of 22, in March 1962, Child #3 Jocelyn was born in Stockton, California on March 8. While pregnant with Jocelyn, Consuelo craved the Filipino dish, dinuguan. At six months old, Jocelyn had yellow jaundice and had to have surgery at Oaknoll Hospital in Oakland, California. At the same time, Ernie was diagnosed with Pteridium, and had to have surgery, too. Both Ernie and Jocelyn were in the same hospital for two weeks. Consuelo stayed home with Lennie and Sally because she did not know how to drive…yet..

At the age of 23, in 1963, Consuelo, Ernie, and the three daughters---Lennie, Sally, and Jocelyn, moved to Long Beach, California because Ernie was now stationed there.

At the age of 24, in 1964, Child #4 Cynthia, was born in Long Beach, California on February 29. While pregnant with Cynthia, she craved lumpia. She also had to rest at sundown because she was low on energy. They lived in Navy Housing. Lennie was in 1st grade at St. Lucy Catholic School, Sally and Jocelyn went to day care.

At the age of 26, in 1966, Consuelo took care of the family while Ernie was away in Vietnam from Jun-Nov 1966, and Feb -April 1967, during the Vietnam war. While in Long Beach, Consuelo wanted to work. Her first job was with a Women’s Clothing Retail store which was only for one day. Ernie was a traditional family man and did not want her to work---it was a sign of the times. Her second job was with a bank. Her third job was with Honeywell, which lasted three months until Ernie returned from Vietnam and then he was due to transfer to the Philippines. While at Honeywell, Consuelo worked on an assembly line and described her job like the scene in “I Love Lucy” when Lucy worked at the candy factory assembly line.

At the age of 27, in 1967, Child #5, her one and only son, Roderic (Eric), was born in Long Beach, California. In June 1967, Ernie advanced to Chief and was transferred to Subic Bay, Philippines.They had a house built in Cavite City, Philippines.

At the age of 28, In 1968, Child #6, Jessica, was born in the Philippines. Consuelo was past all of her food cravings by then.

At the age of 30, In 1970, Ernie was stationed in Groton, Connecticut. So, Consuelo and the six children moved from the Philippines, stayed temporarily with her brother, Carding, and his family, in San Diego, California, until Ernie was able to secure housing. By December 1970, they relocated to Connecticut. Consuelo described Connecticut as safe and the best environment to live and raise her children. She enjoyed taking cake decorating and ceramic classes. She continued with her desires of building her career. She began with selling Avon part time (1970-1971), and later worked part-time as a cashier at Vality Department Store, and then at Radio Shack. While working at Radio Shack, she asked to have time off to attend the Navy Ball with Ernie. Her boss told her, “No.” She then gave her boss her two week notice to resign. Her boss then told her that he did not want her to leave but still did not want her to attend the ball. Her mind was made up that she would resign and go to the Navy Ball after all.

At the age of 31-34, from 1971-1974, she worked at the Connecticut Bank and Trust Company as a Bank Teller.

At the age of 33, in1972: Ernie attended Submarine School and got transferred to USS Pulaski Submarine and traveled every three months to Glasgow, Scotland until 1974.This meant that Consuelo was the one who watched over the six children on her own while Ernie was out on deployment. She was the one who attended our school performances, made costumes for school plays, made sure we had lunch money for school, and dinner made for the family every evening.

At the age of 35, in Dec 1974, Ernie retired from the US Navy. Consuelo and her family moved from Connecticut, traveled across the country, then stayed with her brother Carding and their family in San Diego, California, until they were approved for flights to the Philippines to visit family there.

Still, at the age of 35, in 1975, Jan-April, Consuelo and her family traveled to the Philippines to visit their parents and siblings. They later returned to San Diego, California, and moved to their house on Gatty Street.

At the age of 35 -39, in 1975-1980, Consuelo worked at the California 1st Bank which later became Union Bank as an Escrow Officer

At the age of 38, in 1978 Consuelo worked at the County of San Diego in Accounts Payable. She also became a US citizen.

Between the ages of 40-58, from 1981-1007, Consuelo worked as an account clerk and later an accounting technician for the county of San Diego and the U.S. Department of Defense - Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS).

* In 1981-1985, she worked at the County of San Diego as an Account Clerk

* In 1981-1982, she worked at the County of SD Intermediate Account Clerk

* In 1983, she worked at the Naval Supply Center in SD (Federal Job) in Purchasing along with Ernie

* In 1983-1985, she worked at the County of SD Auditor & Controller - Account Clerk

*In 1985-1985, she worked at the County of SD Naval Supply Center - Procurement Clerk

*In 1985-1997, she worked for the US Department of Defense in the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) - Accounting Technician

At the age of 58, in 1997, Consuelo retired after 16 years of service working for the County of San Diego and the Federal Government.

While working, Consuelo and her family moved to different parts of Southern California:

In 1977, Consuelo and her family moved to a new home on La Mancha Place, in Chula Vista, California

In 1989, Consuelo and Ernie, moved up to Temecula

In 1993, Consuelo and Ernie moved back down to Chula Vista, California, to their home where they resided the rest of their lives.

In 1995, Ernie retired and continued to commute with Consuelo to downtown San Diego for Consuelo’s work.

~ MY MOM AFTER RETIREMENT ~

Consuelo was able to enjoy her life after retirement. For the next 26 years, she continued to live a full life filled with:

Love for and happiness with her husband, Ernie, who passed away in 2020.

Love for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren

Lots of traveling and going to new places

Getting together with high school classmates at the Class of 1953 and Class of 19‘55 Cavite High School reunions

Going to Sycuan casino and playing poker

Dancing

Eating out

Being together with family for good times

On March 15, 2019, My Dad and Mom celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. Their marriage was blessed with:

-Six children: Eleanor (Lennie) Landry, Rosalie (Sally) Soranidis, Jocelyn (Joji) Rapaido-Ritua, Cynthia Rapaido, Roderic (Eric) Rapaido, and Jessica (Jing) Rapaido- Ybarra; and

-Ten grandchildren: Renato Teroy, Taylor Salazar, Kyle Landry, Aristides Soranidis, Ileana Hinojosa, Jaqueline Silavong, Alexandria Aceto, Victoria Ritua, Alexis McDonald, and Ciera Ybarra; and

-Two great granddaughters: Emery and Alana Silavong

Consuelo was a loving and devoted sister, wife, mother, mother-in-law, auntie, grandmother, and great grandmother, she provided the foundation of what our family should value - each other.

~ HER REMARKABLE QUALITIES~

-Caring and a tender heart

-Giving sound advice

-Smart and wise

-Sharp-minded

-Thoughtful of others

-Always putting family first

-Seeing beauty in many things

-Compassionate -especially with those who were not as fortunate

-Happy go lucky

-Fun

-and a Warrior and our Hero

~FUN FACTS~

First concert she ever attended:

Tom Jones in Las Vegas. She loved Tom Jones and Tony Orlando and Dawn music.

Favorite foods:

Banana split

Steak/Beef

Favorite movies:

Gone with the Wind

Wizard of Oz

Fiddler on the Roof

Dirty Dancing

Back to the Future

Karate Kid

She liked scary movies. She and her son, Eric, would watch “The Walking Dead” - zombie movies. She also liked watching murder mysteries.

She loved watching game shows - The Price is Right, Let’s Make a Deal, Family Feud. In fact, she even went to Los Angeles to go to The Price is Right, and also had our family try out for Family Feud!

Going to the casino - playing poker!

She loved traveling, going on trips and on cruises - with dad, with siblings and sister-in-laws, and with me and Gary

She loved dancing - she and my dad would always dance the swing and cha-cha. She also loved dancing the electric slide, the Macarena, and doing the dance steps to Achy Breaky Heart and the Hustle.

She enjoyed the outings with the class of 53’ and class of ‘55.

She liked drawing -she found it to be relaxing

She loved learning and trying new things. For example:

In 1979-1991: she earned her Real Estate License and later in

In 2010-2014:she earned her Broker License

In 1982-1983: she was an Entrepreneur and owned a small boutique, which was named “Jocelyn’s Boutique”

In 1988-89: She earned her Cosmetology license and was a Cosmetologist

She loved exploring the arts. For example, she took classes and learned how to make ceramics, decorate cakes, and arrange flowers.

She was always open to learning - In her late 40’s she learned how to ski and play racquetball (injured her tailbone and spine),

After Ernie passed away in 2020, in her early 80’s, she still wanted to take classes at Southwestern College but unfortunately, this was during the years of the COVID pandemic and many classes were not offered onsite. Nevertheless, she asked me to teach her to sing and play the piano. I was honored to teach her. She learned how to play chopsticks on the piano. When it came to teaching her how to sing, I thought of the song, “Sing” by the Carpenters. I played it on her iphone and had her sing the lyrics as it played. After she heard the song, she asked me to add it to her iphone music library so she could access it all the time. That became my mom’s favorite song to sing because she loved the lyrics, which went like this:

Sing, sing a song. Sing out loud. Sing out strong. Sing of good things not bad.

Sing of happy not sad. Sing, sing a song. Make it simple to last your whole life long.

Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear.

Just sing, sing a song.

MY MOM - A WARRIOR and A HERO

My Mom’s health conditions were never really shared with the children until we started to help take care of both of our mother and father, around 2018.

At the age of 73, 15 years later in 2012, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After months of treatment, she miraculously survived it.

Five years later, at the age of 78, in 2017, she got really sick and was diagnosed with pneumonia and survived it. It was in the hospital, when we found out that she also had a number of cardiovascular health issues. Miraculously, she survived pneumonia. Shortly after she recovered from the pneumonia, she was admitted to a nursing facility to regain her strength. Once she regained her strength, she was released to go home after two months.

During both the breast cancer and pneumonia health scares, my mom suffered ministrokes which also affected her brain with vascular dementia. My mom’s short- term memory slowly declined but fortunately, she was able to recall from her long-term memory.

On October 7, 2023, my mom was admitted to the hospital for an infection which was treatable and cured.

However, on October 10, 2023, my mom’s health condition declined. Sally, Jocelyn, Eric, and Jessica were at the hospital with my mom. I was with her through phone video, Facetime. At 3:40 a.m. she passed away and is now in God’s loving embrace and together with our Dad, her soulmate and life-mate.

My mom, with her strong will to live, was a fighter, survivor, warrior, and hero. We were blessed to have a strong role model and nurturing mother. We will be forever grateful.

My mom lived a full life - filled with love for family and friends, passion for life and living to the fullest, and always thankful to God for all of his blessings.

In closing, those that knew my mom, knew that she loved the song, “And I Love You So” from Perry Como, because that was the song that my dad would sing to her.

Allow me to recite some of the lyrics from the song:

And I love you so

The people ask me how

How I've lived till now

I tell them I don't know

I guess they understand

How lonely life has been

But life began again

The day you took my hand

And yes, I know how lonely life can be

The shadows follow me 'n' the night won't set me free

But I don't let the evening get me down

Now that you're around me

These are her stories, and I am thankful that I was able to capture them in her words.