Gracia (Resurreccion) Achanzar was born to Pio and Leonore Resureccion on May 7, 1936, in Manila, PI. She attended schools in Manila and later met Geronimo Achanzar, whom she married on January 18, 1958.
Grace moved to the United States in 1971. She lived in Chicago, where she worked as a unit secretary at Oak Park Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois, and was a member of the Lions Club. In 1980, she and her family relocated to San Jose, California, where she met friends whom she came to consider her extended family. She worked as a unit secretary at Kaiser Santa Teresa. While living in the Bay Area, Grace was a member of Women in Touch and the Flower Lovers Club. She was a member of St. Catherine of Alexandria parish in Morgan Hill, California, and sang in the church’s Fil-Am choir. She was a member of a dance group called the “Golden Girls.”
Gracia yearned to experience life to its fullest, and even in her old age she maintained an active lifestyle. She looked forward to spending time with her friends from her various clubs and organizations. She developed a morning routine of reading the daily newspapers as she ate her breakfast, and she enjoyed fashion and watching her favorite television shows. Most of all, Grace lived for her fifteen grandchildren, whom she taught to live, to love, to laugh, and to give.
Grace is survived by her children, Gerry, Gabby, Gladys, Gil and Gemma. She was a loving mother-in-law to Ethel, Annabelle, Yolanda and Jack. She was a beloved grandmother to her 15 grandchildren: Gigirose, Ginamay, Myles, Gregory, Chloe, Marissa, Samantha, Julian, Jordan, Tiara, Tamara, Justin, James, Joshua and Hannah.
Grace will be interred at Lima Family Cedar Lawn in Fremont, California.
Leonore Resurreccion used to sing a song to her little girl, Gracia. In the song, a child asks her mother what she will be when she is grown, and the mother tells her, “The future’s not ours to see; que sera, sera.”
From these words, Gracia gleaned her approach towards life: the future is unknowable, and so we must cherish each moment we are given. As her mother taught her, Gracia taught her own children – and then her grandchildren – this song and this way of living life.
Gracia made the most of every day that she lived. She had an unquenchable thirst for experience; she traveled well into her old age, breathing in the beauties that this world has to offer. She appreciated expression – she danced, she sang, and she created beautiful things.
But most of all, Gracia was full of love – love for her family and for her friends, whom she considered family. She treasured the time she spent with her children, and with her grandchildren, who called her “Mama.” She taught them not only how to live life but to conquer it – to be strong, to be independent, and to create their happiness. She taught them not to accept limits.
And in her 74 years, Gracia did it all. She fell in love and raised a family. She had a career, she saw the world, and she developed relationships with those around her. And she lived to share the wisdom that she acquired through her experiences with her loved ones. Though she is no longer physically with us, timelessness would not be worth one day of living and loving as Gracia did.
As we look upon her picture, sweet memories we recall of a face so full of sunshine and a smile for one and all.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18