Cholita Maniti Carlos

Cholita Maniti CARLOS, fondly known to many as Nanay Choleng or Cholie, 87, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on October 29, 2023.

She is survived by her children Maria (Jeannie), Eric (Airine), Gennie and Jessica, her four beautiful grandchildren Cairo, Reilyn, Kealani and Isla Bella and her youngest sister Cresencia Maniti Avilla who resides in the Philippines.

Cholita’s life started on October 28, 1936 when she was born in the small village of San Vicente, Mexico, in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. She was the daughter of Juana Panlilio Maniti and Fidel Panganiban Maniti. Cholita, being the fourth eldest in a family of ten children, helped her widowed mother raise younger siblings and work the rice fields. Despite the challenges of those days, Cholita attended school and prided herself in being very good at Math which was her favourite subject. She completed high school in Pampanga and then spent a good part of her twenties living in Manila where she went to school and learned how to be a seamstress. The city of Manila is where she met her husband Agapito Carlos. They married, had three children and soon decided that they could provide a better life for their family in Canada. In 1967, Agapito travelled to Vancouver, Canada and Cholita and the three children followed soon after in 1970. In 1971 her youngest daughter, Jessica, was born.

Cholita was an incredibly hard-working mother of 4 children. Her working years were spent in the food services industry starting at Shaughnessy Hospital on Oak street in Vancouver. At the same time, she had a part-time job at the Hudson Bay Company and worked at the Seymour Restaurant on the 7th floor. Shaughnessy Hospital facility was renamed BC Women’s Hospital in 1994 and Cholita continued to work there and at the Bay until she retired in 2001. To the very end, she maintained connections with some of her closest co-workers at BC Women’s Hospital and continued to regularly join them in their prayer groups.

Cholita worked at two jobs but she still managed to enjoy her hobbies of dress-making, cooking, gardening, walking to the produce stores and reading the newspaper. In her retired years, she gardened, sewed for a few of her closest clients, and most importantly, helped raise her grandchildren. Watching the girls grow and become young adults brought her the most joy. Cholita passed away knowing that she had supported them the way she knew how and that they would be okay. Outside of work, she and Agapito stayed connected to the Filipino community by attending dances and parties and fostering very close friendships with other Filipino families in Vancouver. All the hard work also allowed her and her husband to take the family on several trips especially to the Philippines and the US.

Providing a good life for her family was her life goal. Bringing family and friends together through celebrations and dinners was something Cholita looked forward to. Up to her 87th birthday on October 28th, family filled her room with food, stories and laughter. She lived at New Vista Care home in Burnaby from February 2023 until her passing. There, she was lovingly referred to as Nanay (mother) by the staff and was tended to with love and care. She has left her legacy not just with her family but with all the lives she has touched. She will be deeply missed and live forever in our memories and our hearts.

On November 14, 2023, a Celebration of Life will be held for her at Forest Lawn Cemetery at 1:00 pm. This will be followed by internment at 2:15pm and a reception from 3:00-5:00pm. In lieu of flowers we are asking that donations be made to New Vista Society in the name of Cholita Carlos and specifically to the 6th floor. It is our hope that donations can be used to purchase art supplies, books, games and any other resources the staff can use to provide the residents with their daily activities that Cholita was able to take part in during her stay there:

New Vista Society 6th Floor

7232 New Vista Place

Burnaby, BC

V5E 3Z3

Phone: 604-521-7764

http://www.newvista.bc.ca/