Absalon Bince Berdos

Absalon was born on March 1, 1936 to Dalmacio and Petronila Berdos. He is the firstborn among 8 children. He was on his 3rd year college leading to BS in Agricultural Education from the Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija, Philippines when he first heard about the good news of God’s kingdom. His interest in the truth grew more when he attended the meetings at the Kingdom Hall with his mother. He stopped going to school because 6 months after his baptism on September 1957, he started regular pioneering. He became a regular pioneer then a ministerial servant at the same time in Sto. Tomas, Pangasinan. After a few years, he was appointed as a circuit overseer and served in that privilege for a decade (1956 – 1965) in Ilocos Sur, Cagayan and Isabela in the Philippines.

Absalon met his wife, Aida when he visited the Sta. Cruz Congregation in Ilocos Sur where Aida was associated. It was ‘love at first sight’ that led to their marriage on June 6, 1965. They are blessed with 3 beautiful daughters, Jemima, Karen and Sheba and 1 handsome son, Abner. Absalon and Aida have 6 grandsons and 1 beautiful granddaughter.

Due to the call of family responsibility, Absalon went abroad and worked as a clerk at ARAMCO in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. During his 6-year stay, he volunteered to pick up brothers from their respective places and brought them to the secret places of meeting since there was no religious freedom in the country.

Absalon spent most of his life serving Jehovah God. He served as a Presiding Overseer in Rosales congregation for almost 3 decades. In 1985, he and his family were assigned to Balungao congregation where the need was great. He served as chairman of the Body of Elders and regular pioneer at the same time. He loved attending assemblies and conventions both local and international. During the international convention in Manila in December 1963, he served as the interpreter of brother Callaway in his public discourse from English to Tagalog. In 1985, he came to the U.S. with a group of Philippine Branch Delegates to the International Convention held at Long Beach, CA.

Being an elder and pioneer at the same time, he conducted many bible studies and several of whom got baptized. Three of whom were appointed as elders and one of them became the chairman of the body of elders. Sadly, Absalon had a stroke on March 9, 2007 which caused him to have a short-term memory.

On May 15, 2007, Absalon and Aida migrated to the U.S. thru the petition of their youngest daughter, Sheba. They stayed in Issaquah, WA. Two months after, they moved to Hurst, TX and lived with their oldest daughter, Jemima and her family. On May 15, 2008, they moved back to WA state to take care of their 18 month old granddaughter. They attended the English congregation at Sammamish, WA for 7 years. They supported the Tagalog group for 2 years after. On June 22, 2022, they moved back to TX to live with Jemima and her family.

Absalon is survived by his wife Adelaida, four children, Jemima, Karen, Abner, his wife Fil and Sheba and her husband Myron. They have 7 grandchildren and their wives, Gian and Dorie, Japhet and Maricel, Jaycob and Vivian, Dan Levi, Kadmiel and Patricia, Allie and Kraige.

Absalon’s legacy is that all members of his family are loyally serving Jehovah God. He will be truly missed by his family, relatives and friends!