Linda De Jesus

Inay Linda, to her bereaving family and kin, is the greatest Mom this world has ever know! All throughout her maternal life, they had personally witnessed her unconditional love, undying devotion to and innumerable sacrifices for the sake of her children’s interest and well-being.

Rosalinda De Jesus, née Bascuguin, was born on August 30, 1931 in Balayan, Batangas, Philippines. She was the second of four daughters of Nemesio Bascuguin and Paz Racion Bascuguin.

A baccalaureate, and later master’s, degree holder in education, she became a certified teacher and taught in various local public schools for more than two decades.

She married Rafael De Jesus on October 27, 1953. Their union was blessed with ten offsprings, seven sons and three daughters.

On May 1, 1970, her husband, a town policeman, died from a bullet wound. Linda, at a young age of 38, was now a widow and the sole provider of 10 young kids. From then on, she had decided to devote her life solely to her children’s upbringing.

Realizing that her teacher’s pay wasn’t enough to raise her big brood, she retired early from teaching and became a successful life insurance agent and eventually the local insurance branch manager. She was also instrumental in having her two oldest sons enlist in the US Navy. Despite her constant struggle to make ends meet, she persisted on providing as much education to her children as possible.

On top of her busy family life, she still managed to actively participate in local politics. She was twice elected member of Balayan town council. Notable among her numerous public service accomplishments, she was proud to have helped establish the first public and tuition-free high school in her town.

Linda came to the United States as an immigrant in 1985. She became a naturalized US citizen in 1990 and was able to bring all her offsprings ( except for one daughter ) and their family to the United States soon after.

In 2014, she was diagnosed with a kidney disease which required regular dialysis. Then on January 18, 2017 she was rushed to Sharp Hospital for extremely low blood pressure and later, infection of her blood stream.

On February 20, 2017, at age 85, she succumbed to her illness and complications and passed away peacefully. She is survived by her seven sons, two daughters, 39 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.