Maria Jessebel Irao Ibao Cellery

Maria Jessebel "Maribel" Irao Ibao was born on Dec. 19, 1966, in Kalibo, Aklan Philippines. The first child of Serbolo Tulay Ibao and Bernabela Gomez Irao – Ibao. She was born on the second floor of her parent's house at the corner of Acevedo St and Roxas Ave. delivered by a midwife. Though her parents were based out of Watsonville California, they wanted to have their first born in the Philippines, close to family and friends. She was baptized within days and her Catholic faith remained a constant.

Her father “Tatay” was a farm worker in Watsonville and her mother “Nanay” worked at Dominican Hospital in housekeeping. She came from very humble begins but they were rich in love and faith.

During her youth, she travelled between Watsonville and the Philippines several times. While in Watsonville, she played with her first cousins Francisco, Dinah, and Jean. They were her first “brother and sisters.” She also had several extended “cousins” like the Cawalings, Taytayons, and the Tejadas, too many to name. She was doted on by her Tatay who referred to her as "Belbel", she could do nothing wrong in his eyes, she would always make him smile.

While attending Hall Elementary School she was known for wearing eyeglasses, overalls, and drawing low rider cars and flowers. She also loved the farm animals they raised and knew when they took her to the park, one would be missing when she returned. Much to her parents delight, her brother Edward was born in 1971, when she was 4. One time before leaving for the Philippines again, she gave him a 5 dollar bill as a gift, but he held on to it and gave it back to her once she returned back to Watsonville. She had a very loving and giving heart at a young age. When she returned back to Watsonville in 1978 she came with her baby sister Joanne and stayed with her Auntie “Nene” and Uncle Johnny. She helped watch her little sister and this bond stayed between the two.

She spent part of high school in the Philippines at La Consolacion High School and learned how to speak Tagalog. Maribel easily made friends or reconnected with kids she already knew any where she went. Her laugh was loud and infectious. During the later part of high school her Tatay returned to the Philippines to retire and get well from an illness, along with him went Edward and Janice. This time she stayed behind in Watsonville with her Nanay and they lived with relatives who kept arriving from the Philippines, her Uncle Ramon’s family, Uncle Manuel’s, and Uncle Nonoy’s. Even with a full house they made due with what they had. They all kept focus by putting God first and attending mass together every week.

She also spent other weekends with other relatives in Vallejo with the Reandelars or in San Francisco with the Laurentes or Igtanlocs. She picked up a unique sense of style and killer dance moves from “hanging out” in Frisco or V-Town. She made it fashionable to wear wrestling shoes with baggy shorts, she sported “members only” jackets and had several of her clothes handmade. She wore sweatshirts and baseball shirts embroidered with “giggles” which was another nickname, all this time while listening to an eclectic array of music from hip hop to punk to new wave. When she made friends she took pleasure in introducing people to each other. She was the first true social networker. Maribel graduated a Wildcat from Watsonville High school in 1984 and soon returned to the Philippines.

She started in Manila where she attended Far Eastern University and Sacred Heart College. She returned to Kalibo to finish some minor subjects. During this time Edward was her chaperone during her "outings" with friends and they'd get in trouble all the time by going to far off places, and coming home way past curfew. She loved celebrating the annual religious festival, the Ati-Atihan. She was the first "girl" to actually win “miss talent” by break dancing and doing a head spin for one of the pageants she entered.

By now little sister Janice was still in elementary school and, just as, or even more so annoying. Maribel would have to deal with the wrath of Nanay after Janice reported her sister’s “friends” visits and outings. Janice looked forward to her daily fashion statements. She would watch in fascination as Maribel applied her signature eyeliner, wet n’ wild hot pink lipstick, and hair gel. Janice would just stare at her older sister and admire how beautiful she was, and how she had a really nice nose.

Jesse- adult years- written by Marc Cellery

Upon returning from the Philippines at the age of 19, Jez soon met Jose “Pep” Moreno and was married in January 1987. 15 months later they were given a gift from God- Joshua. Jez, Pep, and Joshua lived with Pep’s parents in Watsonville for the next 8 years. During this time Jez worked at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas starting out working the cafeteria and concession shop. Eventually she would wind up getting promoted and taking a position in the hospital’s Medical Record’s department. Her journey in medical records would last for over 20 years. Jez continued life in Watsonville, close to many family members and friends she made from high school and throughout her professional career. In 1996, Jez and Pep separated and eventually divorced; with Jez moving back to her childhood home on Elkhorn Road with her sisters, Joanne and Janice, mom, and aunt. The sisters had fun terrorizing places like San Jose, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. They loved to dance, shop and dine together, and just enjoy the beauty that the Monterey Peninsula area offers to all. I know they looked up to sister Jez during these years as another mother figure as well as a big sister. So much of what you see in Joanne and Janice is a result of their time spent with Jez.

In December 1998, Jez and I met at a place called San Jose Live. Though we each have different accounts on how the initial meeting took place, we ended up on the dance floor exchanging our stories which seemed to be very similar- that started our bond together. Over the next few months we had a whirlwind romance and I proposed in March on Capitola Beach. Jez and I married June 19th 1998 in Santa Cruz and a year later that same day we had our church ceremony. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say we moved a lot initially in the Bay area for the next 2 years, then to Tustin Ranch, Temecula, and eventually we settled down in Chula Vista in November 2003. Prior to moving to Eastlake, in Feb 2002 we experienced another gift from God, the birth our daughter Genesis. As a result of the marriage Jez also became stepmom to Brittany and Matthew Cellery who lived less than a mile from us in Eastlake. A few years later when Joshua started college at UCSD, he joined the group in Eastlake moving into Sugar Pine.

Our family had another blessing; being able to be part of a brand new parish; Mater Dei, established on Jan 1 2004. This blessing enabled us to flourish not only in faith, but also with the dozens of everlasting friendships and many of the loved ones that fill this room today. Over the next almost 12 years to the present we built our lives here in San Diego. After taking some time off of work to take care of Genny, Jez took a job at Paradise Valley Hospital in medical records. As with everywhere she went she became the glue and sparkle that gave life to the workplace or party.

More recently, my daughter Brittany, blessed the family with two beautiful granddaughters; Breanna and Savanna. Jez was an amazingly loving mom and grandma and lit up every time she saw the babies. She got very involved in all her kid’s and grandkid’s lives and was always there when you needed her. She was proud of Josh and Brittany’s college success that transitioned to Josh being an art teacher at High Tech High in Eastlake, and Brittany being a school psychologist at Eastlake High School. Finally, she cherished her sister Joanne’s and brother-in-law Abe’s little girls; Franchesca and Paulina. We will all miss our shining star, lovely wife, amazing mom and grandma; mama Bebel.

Jez- later years /reflection- written by Marc Cellery

Jez, Genny and I would take several trips to Hawaii and up to Watsonville to visit the forever expanding Irao family there. We also took a few side trips to Europe along the way and she was telling me recently that Hawaii was boring now and she just wanted to go to Europe again – I did not agree by the way. Along the journey, Jez’s network of friends continued to expand. I always said she had three or four different sets of friends that she had to manage. But she really loved the social network she had and cherished her friends with all her heart. Many of you were fortunate enough to receive one of her custom made cards with her custom “made by Jesse” stamp, and she loved to give scarves as small tokens of her friendship to those she loved. Genny plans to continue that tradition with her sister Britt telling me, “Please keep all the craft stuff. I will take over for mom.”

Over the past several years, the Cellery residence on Sugar Pine Place became the party pad, and we would all gather for birthday celebrations, holidays, 4th of July, even a wedding celebration for Bobby and Faina or just to be with our ohana. I think we all just loved to be together to enjoy our love and friendship. The guys would play their Aloha music, Marvin and Steve would lead the line dances—this is a tradition I truly hope stays alive so we can now celebrate Jesse’s life during these gatherings. These strong relationships we developed brought Jesse so much joy and happiness; which continues as I witness the outpouring of love and support that our Mater Dei family, PVH family , and all her other sisterhood groups have poured out over our family over the last 10 days. Our entire family is overwhelmed by this show of love for our dear Jessebel.

As I type this passage, emotional and confused as I am, I know my beautiful wife is smiling down upon all of you here and thankful for the support and prayers you are giving her and our family. Lord knows we will need your continued support as we journey through this period of emotional grief, sadness, and adjustment. We pray and reflect on God’s mercy and forgiveness and know that Jesse is in a better place now, sitting and laughing with Christ in heaven. Our faith is always tested at times like this because we may never know why, and we can’t continue to ask what if. We just need to move forward with love, faith, and trust in God’s divine mercy.

One thing is for certain, we can all look back at Jessebel’s life and know that she experienced more love, fun, laughter, and yes craziness than most people could experience in 2 lifetimes. Her friends know her credo was “Live, laugh, love”. I will say this for her, because she always told me herself- she cherished and loved all of you very much and wants you to move forward and spread her energy and light. If you need her in your heart just pray and she will come down and give you that smile. I Love You my sweet Jez.