Consuelo Ubaldo Resella

On Tuesday, October 26, 2021, Consuelo Ubaldo Resella passed away at the age of 96 at the long-term care facility on the campus of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, leaving behind 7 children, 18 grandchildren, and 22 great-grandchildren. Her husband, Benjamin Resella, predeceased her.

Consuelo also called Choling and later Connie was born on July 7, 1925 in Manila, Philippines. She grew up in a wealthy and large household. She was very fond of her grandmother who she considered as the person who raised her. At the age of 6, she was sent to a convent to be taught by nuns. She was a feisty little girl who bit a nun’s finger because the nun made her scrub floors. “My grandmother did not raise me to become a maid!” she said. As a young teen, she worked as a cashier in her family’s restaurant at the Manila pier.

When Consuelo was 17, she met her future husband, a poor young man from Tondo, at a cemetery in Manila on All Soul’s Day. They married and lived in the shadow of World War II under the brutal Japanese occupation. They endured many hardships but found ways to survive. During the battle of Manila when the Americans bombed the city and the Japanese fled, her first-born baby girl died.

After the war, Consuelo and Benjamin settled into a comfortable life and started having children. They designed and built the only doll factory in the Philippines where Consuelo was in charge of marketing and finance. She was a formidable businesswoman. When Benjamin became an Art Director with Sampaguita Pictures, they mingled with movie stars.

In 1963, in search of a better life for their children, Benjamin and Consuelo along with their 7 children migrated to the United States, landing in San Francisco. To make ends meet, Consuelo cleaned houses and worked in restaurants. Life improved when they moved to Los Angeles and Benjamin became a scenic designer in Hollywood. Consuelo was a master cook and wizard in the kitchen and always had food for company at anytime of the day. She loved to eat.

Consuelo will be remembered as a devoted wife and loving mother who closely followed her Catholic faith. She was compassionate and generous even to the extent of helping less fortunate families (related or not) by providing them with jobs, housing and even paying for their children's schooling. Family was very important to her and she loved her children and grandchildren who will dearly miss her.