Romy Espartero Nacionales

He was born on October 1, 1934 to Soterania Villanueva in Jinalinan, Barbaza, Antique, Philippines. At one year old, he was adopted by the late Monsignor Fermin Espartero Nacionales and the late Consorcia Espartero Alavata. He enjoyed being the baby brother to his siblings Prudencio, Fortunata, Marciana, and Lydia.

As a young boy, Romy loved being the altar boy for the Philippine Independent Church, which his father had founded. Until his passing, he returned home to visit his beloved birth country on a yearly basis, overseeing and helping fund any improvements the church needed. In his late teens, he traveled to Manila to join the army, but was rejected due to his size and age. Instead, he found work as a taxicab driver.

He stayed in Manila until he met the woman who was to be his wife, Rosa Baña. They moved back home to Barbaza to start a family. They had four children when he left the Philippines for California in 1965, chasing the American dream. In 1971, he had saved enough for his family to join him in America, and their fifth child was born shortly afterward.

In his new country, Romy worked various jobs to fill his time, including a part time job at a nursery, a janitorial position at Stanford Research Institute, and a technician at Hewlett-Packard. He retired from HP after 22 years of service. Two months after retiring, he suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm and underwent a triple heart bypass. He was also later diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

However, he did not allow these ailments to keep him from the activities that he enjoyed. For many years, Romy and his wife were an active part of the Filipino American Association of Lakewood Village, in Sunnyvale, and enjoyed many activities including ballroom dancing, picnics, trips, camping and caroling at Christmas time. He was known as “Ninong” among his many Fil-Am friends.

He was also an avid tinkerer and loved making furniture from scraps of wood. He loved to garden and shared his crops with family and friends. He also enjoyed listening to music, and did so every day, especially to instrumental music. He adored, cheered (and cursed) the sports home teams. He always found something to do and was never bored.

Romy was a devoted father. He was not a man to often say the words “I love you”. Instead, he showed his devotion and love through actions. He worked the night shift in order to always be present at his children’s games and band performances. He was always willing to drive his children and their teammates to their games. He was both their biggest supporter and critic. He worked hard to provide, so that his children could achieve a better life than he did. He was proud of not only his children’s accomplishments, but also those of his grandchildren and his nephews and nieces.

Romy leaves behind a loving wife, Rosa and his many children: Rose, Reme and his wife Nancy Fangonilo, Roween, Remilyn, Romy Jr. and his wife Weddy Melchor, and Mary Cheryl. He also has four grandchildren: Kaela, Megan, Kevin and Justin, as well as several beloved pet dogs: Cinnibon, Lincoln, Kennedy, Brownie and Sammy. He will be missed very much.