Lawrence Bernardino Palafox

Lawrence Bernardino Palafox was a modest man, quiet and observant in his ways. He was trustworthy and traditional in his approach to his life and in his relationships. He was tough-minded with the kind of “stick to it” attitude that earned the respect of all who knew him. He was also a man who was meticulous, carefully disciplined, and orderly in virtually everything he undertook. Realistic about life, he was always at the ready, prepared to take on responsibility.

Lawrence was born on May 12, 1987 at the Nazareth Hospital in Dagupan City, Philippines. His parents were Ron and Lydia Palafox. Lawrence was raised in San Jose, California. He was brought up to be self-confident and dependable. These were traits that would serve him well throughout his life.

Growing up in the Palafox household was a bit different than most homes. There were good times to be had, but just as often there was a fair share of challenges as well. However, Lawrence was able to work through the usual family problems when they appeared, and he was the one person in the family who seemed able to keep the stress at bay. Lawrence was raised with one sibing. He had a brother, Leo. Lawrence was constantly involved in activities with his brother. Lawrence and his sibling may have had the typical rivalries while growing up but Lawrence was always consistently loyal to his family.

As a young child, Lawrence was never someone who needed to be the center of attention. He wasn’t pushy and never forced his way into games or other activities. Lawrence developed a variety of interests, though, and the things he enjoyed doing he did well. He was always curious about the world around him and was often eager to explore it. Lawrence enjoyed playing soccer as a kid. He was also involved with the Boy Scouts, and in his spare time he liked to read comic books. Lawrence's memorable achievements included playing chess. However, what Lawrence enjoyed most was simply playing and spending time with his many friends.

While his teachers and even his friends generally thought of Lawrence as being a serious person, he managed to have a pretty good time in high school as he made that critical transition from adolescence to adulthood. He graduated from Silver Creek High School in 2005. One of Lawrence's accomplishments in high school was being involved with the Science Fair. Lawrence was a very logical person who enjoyed learning about factual information. Using his exceptional memory, he was able to learn much through observation. Lawrence always seemed to have a command of the facts and was able to make it seem as though he could easily master any problem that might be presented to him.

College life brought with it a new set of challenges, but Lawrence handled them well. Being a critical thinker who always remained intellectually independent, Lawrence was able to focus on the task at hand in order to complete his class work. He seemed to thrive on college reading assignments, something that often bogged down his classmates. Lawrence was able to read the material and retain the information in a way that impressed his fellow classmates. The ability to efficiently complete the task at hand was a skill that served Lawrence well during his college experience. He earned his degree in the Culinary Arts.

Always considered to be a solid friend, Lawrence was fortunate to have numerous acquaintances and several very close friends during his life. Since he disliked making generalizations about people and preferred to draw his own conclusions based on direct observation, Lawrence was able to see beneath the surface of relationships and became a true friend to those who knew him. He was committed to his friends and valued the trust he placed in them. It was not uncommon for Lawrence to go beyond the call of duty for others, and friends frequently sought him out for advice because he had a knack for coming up with practical solutions to any type of dilemma. While growing up, some of his best friends were Leo and Matthew. Later in life, he remained friends with Leo and Matthew, and became friends with John.

Lawrence liked to experience things first-hand as well as learn about them. This trait carried over into his hobbies, where he was very methodical in how he organized his activities and categorized things. Since he enjoyed his private time, Lawrence always tried to allocate a specific time for working on his hobbies. His favorite pursuits were playing video games. Lawrence was content to enjoy his hobbies alone but was also willing to share his interests with others.

Lawrence found pleasure in sports. Being a person who was comfortable making win/lose decisions throughout life, he could appreciate that athletes made those types of decisions in sports. He applauded those who won, and he enjoyed the statistical data and sports facts and could find himself wrapped up in those details. In high school, Lawrence played soccer.

Lawrence Bernardino Palafox passed away on August 14, 2012 in San Jose, California. He is survived by his parents Ron and Lydia; his brother Leo; and all of his friends and family. Services were held at Oak Hill Funeral Home in San Jose, California.

Commitment is a key word that can be used to describe the life of Lawrence Bernardino Palafox. He was committed to living the life of a good man who was both practical and trustworthy. He was committed to the traditional values that he upheld his entire life. He committed himself to being a hard worker who expected the same effort in return from those around him. Most of all, he was committed to those he knew and loved.