Maureen De Luna Guray

Maureen was always known for her contagious smile which is so natural, sincere, and pure. Her generosity of time, talent and resources extend to everyone who may need them. She was selfless and loved to offer her services to individuals, church, and community.

She was born on October 23, 1956 in Mabitac, Laguna in the Philippines. Her parents were Santos de Luna and Feliciana de Leon. During her younger years, she was raised in her very small town and later moved to San Juan in Metro Manila when she pursued her college education.

A middle child with eight siblings, she was raised from a beautiful family, and Maureen was often teased at young age as "the ugly one", so she struggled to be recognized differently--- through education. Later on, she became considered as the smartest and most successful one, and she was motivated to live by it. On top of that, her unparalleled beauty shined through both physically and spiritually. She had it all.

Her big family was very important to her, and she was the uniting force of her siblings and their respective families as well. She made it sure that there were always peace and harmony, no matter what challenges may arise. Being the prime mover of the big family she was always the “super tita” of her tons of nieces and nephews. She was the director, the voice, and the boss!

She had two older brothers Charlie (deceased), and Allan, and two elder sisters Flousie, and Blessie. Her younger sisters are Marlene (deceased), Amblee, Rose, and Gina. Maureen loved her big clan that includes over a hundred of nieces, nephews, grandchildren and a even a few great grandchildren. She would spend time shopping for their Christmas gifts as early as July and made sure that the goodies would arrive in Manila in time for Christmas. Her amazing team of super nieces - Yazmin, Darlene, and Maryday would spend days sorting them out, packing and distributing them before Christmas, and “super tita” would make it sure that everyone gets their own share --- from the eldest sister to the youngest great grandchild. In-laws are even included!

Indeed, her generosity had no limit. She opened her home to anyone who was in need--- whether a relative, a friend, a neighbor, youth in need of a temporary shelter, or even a random gardener looking for a job.

She was never athletic, but she demonstrated love for musical instruments and was a member of the church choir; and she had an amazing voice - just like most of her family. As a kid back then, she liked playing in the clean river just outside her house rear balcony, and she would just jump from the platform and swim with her cousins and friends. Her father would take her and her other sisters to the shore of Laguna Bay passing through the backyard river via a small "banka" to his farm and gather corn, catch fish and shrimp. She grew up with fresh seafood as the daily menu on the dining table--- which was her dilemma when she moved to the big city where seafoods in the markets were “dead”.

She went to primary school in Mabitac Elementary School which is just a short 5 minutes walk from her home, and graduated with honors from Maryknoll High School in Pakil, Laguna in 1973. She was very active in the church as she was the guitarist in the choir and also member of the Legion of Mary. At a young age, she demonstrated her love for Mathematics, and true enough, studying as a working student, she had a degree in Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Far Eastern University in 1978.

Mau was simple, sociable and approachable, and enjoyed the camaraderie of being with a group of friends. Though she loved a peaceful environment, she was straightforward and wasn’t afraid to confront her family, friends and acquaintances when necessary.

Maureen was very simple and always enjoyed the moment. In fact, she didn’t even have “big dreams”. All she just wanted were a peaceful environment full of smiles, laughter, fun, a time to pray, enough strength to move the furniture to her likes, grocery shopping, housekeeping, cooking, facetiming with her “amigas” while doing simple house chores, watching TV, keeping idle on the couch with Louie the pug, opportunity to serve, to love and to be loved, a supporting family, and a loving community.

She spent 12 years at the National Food Authority in Quezon City, with various positions in marketing, management and in the field of science. She was never an athletic, but was always in every sports event of the agency because she was often the “muse” of the directorate. Indeed beauty and brains as she was, always sent to host exhibitions and fairs participated by NFA. She traveled to the major cities on the Philippines, performing her duties as the expert from the head office. In one of her provincial trips, she met Jerome (who was also traveling from the head office as an engineer, and strangely met for the first time) in Santiago, Isabela in early 1984--- and her love story began.

On November 03, 1984 Maureen exchanged wedding vows with Jerome at the Good Shepherd Parish Church of Fairview, Quezon City. Maureen was blessed with two lovely daughters Kathreen Anne, and Joana Elise.

Her children were the focus of her entire married life and she quit her job when Joan was born and made sure that the young girls were raised properly. And she did.

She was Jerome’s supporter on what endeavor her family wished and prayed for. The biggest leap was her family’s immigration to Canada in 2002—the first generation for the Guray and De Luna families. Her faith in God was her greatest strength and guide that everything will be alright as she believed that God will lead her family to a better place where she will call as her new community, new city, and new country.

With God’s grace, she became one of the inspirations of many individuals in Vancouver as she touched the lives of many people due to her smiles, generosity, and service to the community.

Her favorite pursuits were cooking and entertaining relatives and friends with lots of foods, drinks, and tons of laughter as a proof of her generosity of time, talent and resources . She had a passion for home decorations, and she turned her home into a grand display of Christmas lantern and lights every year. Each year has a different motif, and her children's friends would eagerly wait what was in store for that particular year. She loved to rearrange the house furniture and dress the couches according to her theme in every season or occasion, making the place very homey. She liked grocery shopping too which makes her two refrigerators and pantries as if they were a mini grocery —- and she would give them away to friends and relatives who would visit her very regularly. She just loved giving!

She was not only generous to her resources, but time and talent as well. Maureen was an active member of the Couples for Christ for 27 years, and also Eucharistic Minister at the Our Lady of Sorrows Parish Church. She was also a regular volunteer at the OLS for counting the Sunday collections. Mau helped organized the annual Dia Alegre activities, and also was in charged of the church decorations during Lent and Christmas. She helped in various fund raising activities of the church including the ones from the Knights of Columbus.

Traveling to see places was not one of her favorites, but she loved traveling to see relatives and friends, and to accompany her immediate family to experience quality time with each other. Favorite vacations included Alaskan Cruise, the Baltic Cruise, Cancun, and regular trips to Indonesia and the Philippines.

As her children were growing up, and Jerome was always out on business trips, her usual companion was Louie the pug. They nap on the couch, and watch TV together. They were inseparable for 11 years.

Maureen passed away on November 27, 2017 at the Manila International Airport, minutes before the plane took off for Vancouver, and she was declared DOA in San Juan de Dios Hospital in Pasay City, Philippines. Her remains were later flown to Vancouver after 5 days of vigil with her family and friends in the Philippines. Maureen was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in late 2011 after her pilgrimage in Rome, and was operated in early 2012, and for 6 years, she was closely monitored by her doctors. She was strong enough, and looked very healthy until just a week before her health faded. She was in Manila en route to Jakarta on a short 3-week trip allowed by her doctors.

She joked several times that, “when she passes away, she wants to go beautifully”. She eventually joined her creator as a result of a metastasized lung cancer. Beautiful, yes, she was. She is survived by her husband Jerome, and children K-Anne and Joan. She had services in Loyola Funeral Homes in Quezon City where her relatives and friends were able to view her. She would have been very happy that her relatives and friends have viewed her for the last time in Manila. And after 5 days, her remains were flown to Vancouver and services were held at the Our Lady of Sorrows parish church, and also at the Ocean View in Burnaby. Maureen was laid to rest in Ocean View Cemetery in Burnaby on December 12, 2017.

She has touched the lives of many people---

Maureen didn’t live short to enjoy the bountiful gifts that God has given her, and also didn’t live long enough either to continue the good works that have inspired many other people.