Indalecio Yamuta Galicinao

Indalecio "Gali" Yamuta Galicinao of Lanham, Maryland died on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. Gali is the husband of Rizalina C. Galicinao. One of 11 children, Gali was born in 1925 in Oroquieta, Misamis Occidental, Philippines to Silverio and Maria Galicinao.

One of his proudest accomplishments was being one of the 50 Filipinos chosen to participate in the first US Rehabilitation Program for the Philippines at the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point in Great Neck, NY.

While there, he met, fell in love with, and married his beautiful bride, Rizalina Galicinao.

After graduation, he returned to the Philippines to serve as a naval officer in the Philippine Navy.

He later returned to the United States, and soon began his career at NASA, where he worked as an electrical engineer focusing on the worldwide space satellite tracking network program.

Gali and Riz raised four beautiful children who loved him very much. When they were little, Gali took his family to watch the first night time launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Gali was the loving father of Ed Galicinao and his wife Linda, Ginni Galicinao, Ernie Galicinao and his wife Charlotte, Joy Galicinao, and Tish Dennison. He was the proud grandfather of Josh Galicinao and his wife Emily, Alyssa Roberts and her husband Paul, and Lindsey Gaslin and her husband Dave. He was thrilled and so happy to become a great-grandfather of Kayla Roberts, Hudson Roberts, Asher Gaslin, and Malcolm Galicinao. Gali is also survived by his sister, Lilia Gatab and his brother, Alberto Galicinao and his wife Zenaida. Gali was preceded in death by eight other brothers and sisters.

The Galicinao family will receive friends and family at:

Monday, July 20, 2015

Visitation/Viewing: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Visitation/Viewing: 6:00 PM -8:00 PM

Robert E. Evans Funeral Home

16000 Annapolis Road

Bowie, Maryland

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Visitation/Viewing: 10 AM to 10:30 AM

Mass: 10:30 – 11:30 AM

Repass Luncheon: Directly following Mass

St. Matthias the Apostle Catholic Church

9473 Annapolis Road

Lanham, Maryland 20706

Interment is private.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a tax-deductible donation to one of the following organizations.

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Foundation Inc.

In memory of Indalecio Galicinao ‘50

Please make your checks payable to USMMA Alumni Foundation Inc.

(Tax ID #11-6037948)

PO Box 222011, Great Neck, NY 11022

St. Matthias the Apostle Catholic Church

9475 Annapolis Road

Lanham, MD 20706-3020

Holy Cross Home Care & Hospice

11800 Tech Road, Suite #240

Silver Spring, MD 20904

WHAT'S IN A NAME:

Gali's nickname from his family of origin was "Daling". He later introduced himself to Riz, his future wife, as "Daly". Finally, as a midshipman at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point), he became concerned that some of his fellow midshipmen might start calling him "Darling" from the original "Daling." So, his classmates got together and suggested "Gali" from his last name. He loved his new nickname and henceforth, he was known as "Gali".

IN HONOR OF

INDALECIO “GALI” GALICINAO

FOR

DAD’S 90TH BIRTHDAY

April 30, 2015

Written by his daughter, Ginni

Adapted to and sung to the melody of

Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”

VERSE ONE

Our Dad was born in ‘25

His Dad was Silverio

His Mom was Maria

He had 10 brothers & sisters

And Berting is here with us

We also have Mel, his auntie’s son

And Sylvio, his first cousin

And of course, Dad’s four children and Char & Linda

CHORUS

Today we celebrate

His 90th Birthday

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE TWO

When Dad was a boy

During World War II

He hid in the forest from the Japanese

And then he grew up to be a young man

Who believed in fun

One day they moved a nipa hut

With a drunken man in it to another town

And boy, was the owner confused when he woke up somewhere else

CHORUS

Happy birthday, Dad

We love you, Dad

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE THREE

Our Dad applied to attend Kings Point

And thousands applied,

But only 50 were chosen

And Dad was one of the smart fellows

To earn a scholarship

We’re glad he did

Cuz he met our Mom

They went sailing and singing

All night long

He fell in love with her beauty and her dancing

CHORUS

Happy birthday, Dad

We love you, Dad

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE FOUR

Our Mom and Dad,

They sure could dance

In fact when they danced

People stopped to watch

That’s how beautiful they were when they danced together

And when Dad marched

During Kings Point Day

He’d tip his hat

So Mom could find him

He loved her so much; he married her before he was allowed to

CHORUS

Happy birthday, Dad

We love you, Dad

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE FIVE

When we were young

Our Dad would sing

He’d play the ukulele and sing to us

Just like Ernie now plays and sings

For his grandchildren

He was always whistling a happy tune

We’d know when he was coming by his beautiful tune

But the only ones who remember him whistling are Ginni and Ardy

CHORUS:

Happy birthday, Dad

We love you, Dad

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE SIX

Remember how I said my Dad was fun?

He used to swim at the bottom of the pool

And he could hold his breath longer than almost anyone

We used to watch the fireworks

From our rooftop on Dunlap Street

And one day, he and Albert Fentress

Blew up our swimming pool with a cherry bomb…

And also set the neighbor’s yard on fire

CHORUS

We thought it was funny

Our Mom did not

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE SEVEN

And Dad became a NASA engineer

And he took us to Cape Canaveral

To watch the very first night time launch

Of the Apollo spaceflights

We swam with the stingrays

And learned how to climb

A palm tree with only a rope around our feet

And Ardy climbed higher than anyone

CHORUS

Happy birthday, Dad

We love you, Dad

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE EIGHT

I remember one year

Mom, Dad and I

Went to a party with all the astronauts

And the astronauts were so

Honored to meet and talk with Dad

They thanked him for supporting them

And told him that they couldn’t have gotten home

Without the NASA engineers like our Dad

CHORUS

Happy birthday, Dad

We love you, Dad

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE NINE

So Mom and Dad

They had four babies

Ardy won a science contest for building a computer

And later became known for restoring mustangs

And Ginni is a dancer and Joy is a free spirit

Who never did what anyone told her to do

And Ernie, is a wonderful guitar player and a father

CHORUS

Happy birthday, Dad

We love you, Dad

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

VERSE TEN

So we’re here to celebrate our Dad

Who fell in love and married our Mom

And I remember he would sing to her

“Let me love you sweetheart”

You taught us to dance and love music

And most of all to love each other

And so we say,

We love you and we thank you.

CHORUS

Happy birthday, Dad

We love you, Dad

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Dear friends and family,

We, the children of Gali and Riz Galicinao, cannot thank you enough for taking time out of your lives to join us in celebrating the life of our father, Indalecio Yamuta Galicinao, who was known as Gali to most of you.

Many of you sacrificed so much and traveled great distances to be with us today. We cannot tell you how much this means to all of us and our mother during this very sad time. We’re especially grateful to our dad’s brother, Uncle Berting, and our Galicinao relatives, who came from all over the world to be here today to honor our father, the Patriarch of the Galicinao Clan.

There is much to be admired about our dad. His brave solo journey from the Philippines to the United States … both as a cadet at Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy to returning to the States as an unemployed young groom and father. Through his hard work and diligent efforts, he became known as an expert in electrical engineering, and taught many budding engineers at CREI. He eventually joined NASA and became part of the team that helped make space travel history through his work with the worldwide space satellite tracking network program.

One of our fondest memories is the day our dad announced that he had bought us a new home, which enabled each of us to have our own bedroom. Joy especially liked that this meant that Ginni would no longer be falling out of the top bunk bed and landing on top of Joy in the middle of the night.

Our parents instilled in us the values of family and community. Our neighborhood luaus and backyard picnics were legendary … whether on Dunlap Street or Brightlea Drive. This sense of community, built on friendship and love, was because of our mom and dad. We love our mom and dad, and we miss our Dad always.

We especially want to thank our dear cousins Father Sylvio Galicinao-Lacar (from Canada) and Melvin Yanos, (from Hawaii) for creating such a loving liturgical service to honor our dad. The personal and spiritual support that Father Sylvio and Mel provided to all of us, and especially our mom, during the last months of dad’s life was priceless.

We also thank those, who by their very presence enriched our dad’s life with prayer, understanding, song, and attention to all his needs.

To all of you ... we are deeply grateful for your love and support.

Our blessings and love

Ardy, Ginni, Joy, and Ernie