Dionisio M. Tan

On April 9, 2022 at 2:50 pm, Dionisio Macaraeg Tan, loving husband and father of three children, peacefully joined our Lord and his wife of 70 years, at the age of 95. He was known as "Den or Dean" by many. Den was born on September 14, 1926 in San Carlos Pangasinan Philippines to Poyo Tan and Benita Macaraeg. He had 7 siblings, Tommy (deceased), Tony (deceased), Lily, Fred, Norma (deceased), Evan and Perla. He joined the US Navy in 1945 (23 years of service) and on May 4, 1952 he married Marcelina "Esing" Dacasin. They raised their children, Jerry, Gwen and Theresa Lynn partly in the Philippines and the United States. He was blessed with eight wonderful grandchildren, Donny, Jason, Monica, Adrienne, Dominic, Jonathan, Stephanie and Christopher. Then he was also blessed with seventeen beautiful and handsome great grandchildren, Amelia, Maylonii, Isabella, Lucas, Christopher Jr., Vivienne, Kae'nani, Ta'niyah, Maliah, Julian, Jackson, Jordan, Izabelle, Sincere, Emmercyn, Kassianii and Toussaint.

Den was an easy going and happy-go-lucky person. He loved family gatherings, dancing, going to friends houses to play mahjong, going to the casino to play Pai Gow and to cock fights when he lived in the Philippines. When he was in the Navy he boxed. He was on the USS Forrestal where he was the Admiral's personal cook. He was a great cook of American food but could not cook any Filipino food. We all loved his gravy and mashed potatoes, roasted turkey, Salisbury steak and his sugar cookies. He also worked for SDSU after he retired from the US Navy. He loved vanilla ice cream, apple pie and any desert every time after he ate his dinner. He was a very generous and kind man. He will be missed dearly with all our heart. We are happy that he is now with mom and all his other loved ones.