Homer Santos Galang Sr.

1944 – 2018. Homer Santos Galang, 73, retired TSA Supervisor and Champion Paper Shift Manager, died peacefully in his sleep February 4th, 2018. He was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer 10 years earlier. Although his body had succumbed to cancer, his spirit to always put family first had spread farther than he could ever imagine.

Homer grew up in a small village called Guagua, an hour north of the capital of Manila, Philippines. As an infant, his parents grabbed him and fled during the Japanese occupation. His head still bears the scar of a bamboo tree cutting his forehead as they ran through the forest to escape. Luckily, the remainder of his upbringing was less chaotic. He met Lydia, the love of his life, in his late teens and ended up marrying her. It was the typical love story along with all the funny anecdotes that would take an entire afternoon to tell. His parents also impressed on him the importance of an education. At 18 years old, he proudly graduated from the Manuel Luis Quezon University in Manila with a chemical engineering degree. Homer was hired as one of the talented engineers working at the Bataan Pulp & Paper Mills. Each time he received a pay raise, they had a child. Five pay raises later, you guessed it – five children. They moved to Houston, Texas in 1979.

On the surface, Homer wasn’t a complicated man. He loved three things in life – family, fishing and poker. Sometimes the order of importance changed depending on his mood. Fishing and poker were just a way to connect to the people around him, especially his grandkids. You’d be surprised at how many math problems and life lessons came out of a hand of poker or an afternoon of fishing. His crass jokes either made you cringe or just laugh hysterically. If you hung around Homer just a little while longer, you started to realize the depth of his knowledge and the fullness of his heart. And that’s what he enjoyed.

Homer is survived by his wife, Lydia Galang, and his five children and their spouses, Maryjune and Gregory, Homer Jr. and Lizlita, Abner and Mellody, Cristina and Christopher, and Romer and Dewayne; grandchildren Timothy Gunning, Axton Galang, Kayla Galang, Marco Galang, Mallory Smith, Ethan Smith, Christopher Galang, Griffin Smith, Avery Smith, and Brady Smith; brothers and sisters, Evelinda Mallari, Elizer Galang, Nenita Abad, Reynaldo Galang, Alberto Galang, Miriam Aragon, Clarita Cruz and their respective spouses and children. His family would like to extend a very special thank you to the Sheppard family, first cousin Eileen and her family James, Nicole and Keith, their graciousness and support has been nothing short of amazing.