Jaime R. Valerio

Born July 27, 1948, Jaime R. Valerio was the first of nine children born to Victor and Milagros Valerio. From humble beginnings, he had aspirations of one day becoming successful. As a child he worked alongside his father in their bakery in the Philippines learning the trade at a very young age. He would go on to finish high school and when he was able to save enough money, he enrolled himself to FEATI University, while still working at the bakery, in hopes of becoming an Aeronautical Engineer. He wanted to become a pilot some day. In the meantime, a relative encouraged him to try to join the US Navy. He reluctantly applied and almost didn't finish the examination process because he was late returning from their lunch break. With the help of a compassionate US Navy Officer, Lt. Morgan, who asked “How fast can you run, son?” he was allowed back in to finish the exam. He passed the exam and was accepted to the US Navy on December 1, 1967. He embraced this opportunity and his journey to achieve his dreams began.

His service training began in San Diego followed by his first duty station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In 1969, he went home and married his long time love, Gloria Comiso, whom he shared a son with. His next duty station was in Norfolk, VA. While in Virginia, he took on part-time jobs as a dishwasher and other odd jobs to earn extra money in preparation for his family’s arrival from the Philippines. After Virginia, he was assigned to the USS Dixie, which brought him back to San Diego. This is where he was when his family arrived from the Philippines in 1973. They had two sons by then. In 1975, he turned down a duty station transfer to Japan due to an ongoing petition for his parents. He put his own aspirations of advancement aside to ensure that his parents would have the opportunity to come to the United States. His mom and dad finally arrived in 1975 and 1976, respectively. He was also instrumental in petitioning his 8 remaining siblings from the Philippines.

In 1977, Jaime and Gloria were blessed with their youngest son.

On May 19, 1979, Jaime and Gloria, alongside his parents, opened the first Valerio’s City Bakery, in National City, CA, while he was still in active duty with the US Navy. His dreams of giving his family an opportunity to better their lives had come true.

Having established his business, he also was able to pursue advancement in his military career as an aircraft mechanic at Air Station Miramar. There, he was able to live up his boyhood dreams of being able to work around airplanes. He was there during the filming of “Top Gun.” Jaime retired from the US Navy in 1988, as a Senior Chief Petty Officer.

He was then able to fully dedicate himself to his family and expanding the family business. Jaime and Gloria would eventually open other locations. Presently, they have stores in the bay area (San Jose), Los Angeles (Cerritos), and northern San Diego (Mira Mesa).

After his long time commitment to his career(s), he finally decided to retire and hand over the day-to-day operations of the bakeries to his three sons. This gave Jaime and Gloria the opportunity to travel and spend precious time with each other. They traveled to many places by joining tour groups to Europe, South America, Alaska and Jerusalem (where they renewed their vows), and made lifelong friends along the way.

After accomplishing their goals, they made countless trips to the Philippines where they would fulfill their promise to pay it forward by giving back to the less fortunate in their hometown. They never forgot where they came from and what they went through.

Even with all these accomplishments, he never lost sight of what was truly important to him – his family. He learned how to enjoy life even more by just spending time with his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Jaime is survived by his wife, Gloria, his oldest son, Noel and his wife, Lilian, their children, Nolan, Jamie and Ashlie, his second son, Richard, and his youngest son, Victor and his wife, Lalaine, and their children, Gloriana and Liam.