Hilario "Larry" Rupinta

November 26, 2020 following a brief illness from Covid-19 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,

Bethesda, MD. Born in Ozamiz City, Philippines on November 20, 1934 to Crisanto and Victorina

Rupinta, Larry was one of 10 children. Larry spent his youth in Cebu and Ozamiz City, where he

excelled at school, became a black belt in karate, and loved to fish. At age 28, he immigrated to the

United States in 1962 after enlisting in the U.S. Navy, where he served his first duty assignment in

Jacksonville Beach, Florida. There, he met his wife Catherine (Foster) Rupinta while doing what he

loved; serving his beloved country, singing songs, and making strangers laugh on the boardwalk.

Larry enlisted in the U.S. Army after serving in the Navy, where he served tours overseas during the

Vietnam War and in Camp Zama, Japan. While in the Army, he became a Registered Nurse, and in the spirit of service that embodied his entire life, later Commissioned in the U.S. Public Health Service along with his wife. Larry and Catherine and their eight children lived in multiple duty stations overseas and in the U.S. He retired as a Lieutenant Commander, and continued civilian service caring for patients for many years. As a Nurse, Larry took care of Native Americans, inmates, and officers and enlisted of all ranks. He

brought his steadfast Catholic faith into his selfless service for others, feeling it was an honor to do God's work in his patients' time of need. Some of Larry’s most rewarding assignments included caring for veteran patients at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Baltimore, MD, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and National Institutes of Health.

Since the late 1980s, Larry was a devoted member of the Knights of Columbus and the church choir at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Damascus, MD. He had a beautiful voice and a gift for music; he

wrote his own music to many of the prayers he loved. He never met a stranger and was often the

first on the dance floor and the first to tell a joke. He also made sure that everybody was fed, often

cooking his famous fried rice and other filipino foods for his family and friends. Music, whistling, singing in the choir, talking in his impressionable accent about his devotion to God and the Blessed Mother, dancing, and seeing wonder every day in all of God's creation is what made him so special.

Larry is preceded in death by his son, Kieran Lance Patrick Rupinta, and is survived by his wife

Catherine Rupinta; his two sons Marc Rupinta and Shane (Adrienne) Rupinta; his five daughters

Lauri (Jim) Burgett, Heather Rupinta, Amber (Billy) Ferro, Aubrey Rupinta, and Natale Taryn Rupinta;

11 grandchildren Cory Williams, Jordan (Stephanie) Williams, Jasmine Lucas, Christian Lucas, Keira Lucas, Spencer Rupinta, Tanner Rupinta, Quincy Rupinta, Kiegan Rupinta, Jett Ferro and Dimitri Ferro; a great grandson Grayson Williams; his brothers Ben Rupinta and Ernesto Rupinta and sister Marietta Vasquez; and his beloved dog and cats.

The family will hold a private viewing on Thursday, December 10 at Murphy Funeral Homes, Arlington, VA.

The Funeral Mass will take place on Friday, December 11 at 10:30 am at St. Paul's Catholic Church, Damascus, MD. This will be limited to 150 people.