Erlinda V Alcalen

Erlinda Vidanes Alcalen, 84, of Colleyville, Texas, passed away on July 17, 2024. She was born in Manila, Philippines on April 25, 1940. Erlinda received her medical degree from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in Manila in 1964. She then completed her Ob/Gyn residency training and went into private medical practice in multiple hospitals in Manila. In 1972, Eladieto (Nono) her husband, was assigned as a legal officer for the Philippines General Consulate in Agana, Guam, so the family moved. She then became a consultant at Guam Maternal Fetal Medicine and was assigned to the International Congress of Reproduction.

In 1976, she moved to New Orleans and completed an Ob/Gyn residency training at the US Public Health Service Hospital-Tulane, in order to practice in the United States. During her training, she was honored by receiving a key to the city of New Orleans from the Mayor and Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana. In 1978, she started a solo practice in Bay St. Louis, a city on the gulf coast of Mississippi. It was not a lucrative practice, but she continued in that community as she believed it was her life’s mission to serve the under-privileged. She also became a consultant for the Coastal Family Health Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. She practiced until 1992, when, due to head, shoulder and finger pain, she was forced to retire. She and Nono were finally able to travel to many countries in Asia and Europe. She enjoyed cruising, going on pilgrimages including to Lourdes, Jerusalem, and Rome, and shopping in all the wonderful places.

Following retirement, she moved to Louisville, Kentucky, then to Rancho Cucamonga, California, and then finally to the DFW area in 2003 to be closer to her children and grandchildren. Since moving to DFW, she has concentrated on her family and her faith, attending church daily, and after the COVID pandemic, online. She enjoyed watching her grandchildren grow up—able to see all but one graduate from high school and the oldest 5 receive college degrees. She loved cooking, and she continued to provide delicious Filipino food to the family, friends, church and even her doctors, for years.

She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Eladieto, her five children: Melissa Lampert, Socorro (Don) Chamblee, Evelina Alcalen (Marco Aguirre), Ian and Clarinda; her brother Hernani, 11 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

The Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, August 8, 2024, at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home, 5725 Colleyville, Blvd., Colleyville, TX 76034 from 5 pm to 7 pm. A reception following will be held at her home with the Aguirre family: 7304 Vanguard Court, Colleyville, Texas 76034. Funeral mass followed by internment will be held on Friday, August 9, 2024, at 11 am, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 1000 Tinker Road, Colleyville, TX 76034.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Good Shepherd Catholic Community in Colleyville, TX; St. Michael Catholic Church in Bedford, TX; or UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX.

Our heartfelt thanks to the staff at the medical ICU at Clements University Hospital--UT Southwestern for the excellent care given to ensure the last month of her life reflected the dignity with which she lived.