Agripino Labrador “Ben” Ebitner, age 86, passed away at his San Diego, California home on October 10, 2020 from end stage liver disease. He was born to the late Joaquin Eay Ebitner and Apolonia Peralta Labrador on June 23, 1934 in Manila, Philippines and was the sixth of nine siblings. He was preceded in death by his wife of almost 58 years Zenaida Dawis Zagala Ebitner, brothers Clarito Labrador Ebitner, Patricio Labrador Ebitner, Amparo Labrado Ebitner, and Leonardo Labrador Ebitner, and sisters Crisanta Labrador Ebitner and Angelina L. Ebitner Ofamen.
Ben attended primary school in Manila and joined the U.S. Navy at age 20, where he actively served as a chef for 20 years. When he wasn’t deployed to some exotic place around the world, he worked part-time as a Mason Shoes door-to-door salesman. After his retirement from the Navy in 1974, he earned an Associate degree in Horticulture from Mesa College in San Diego. Over the course of his post-military career, he worked a number of jobs in San Diego, including an elementary school and public library janitor, and retired as a sheet metal mechanic at North Island Naval Air Station, where he repaired fighter jets for the U.S. government.
In the early 1960’s, Ben and his shipmate Ernesto Zagala were showing each other pictures of their sisters. Ben was immediately struck by the beauty of Ernie’s 17-year-old sister Zenaida Dawis Zagala and wanted to meet her. They eventually hooked up and after a 30-day courtship, the two lovebirds were married on July 25, 1961.
As an energetic young man, Ben loved to party – dancing, singing, smoking and drinking. As he settled into family life, his joys turned to gardening (naming the trees, plants and flowers he saw by their scientific names was a fun pastime), negotiating down prices of treasures he found at garage sales, and cooking his kids’ favorite Filipino dishes. He was a founding member and 4th degree Knight of the St. Gregory the Great Knights of Columbus Council. And although he did see much of the world as a sailor, he enjoyed traveling to these same places later with his wife Zenaida.
Ben is survived by his four children (Vyrna (Jeff) Romek, Art Ebitner, Tony (Dina) Ebitner and Zena Ebitner), 11 grandchildren (Lauren, Miriya, Kiralynn, Tony Jr., Janae, Haley, Quentin, Juli, Nathaniel, Athena, and Benjamin), one great-granddaughter (Genevieve), his sisters Esperanza Ebitner Balubar and Francisca Ebitner Silverio, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, and his dog Kokey.
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