Pacita Mendoza Resuello

Pacita (Paz, Pacing) was the third of five children of Mariano Mendoza and Felicitas Bacani. Her siblings are Julian, Aurea, Eduviges and Arsenio (RIP). Paz and Ildefonso celebrated their 60th anniversary two weeks before she passed. Paz and Ildefonso were married on December 22, 1956 in Manila, Philippines. They are blessed with six children (Raquel, Miriam, Perla-Inez, Ildefonso Jr., Portia and Jose), 15 grandchildren (Veronica, Giuliano, Christopher, Moses Jr, Alessandra, Keelan, Zaven, Marisa, Nathan, Mia, Nicholas, Gabriel, Marcus, Jacob and Andrew) and two great-grandchildren (Mila and Cruz).

Pacita was born on July 21, 1930 in the barrio of Doyong, in San Carlos City, Pangasinan, Philippines. In her words “I was named for the Virgin Mary Nuestras Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje” or “Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.” Her registered name was Paz and Pacita was her nickname. Her sisters, Aurea and Eduviges, confirmed her statement. Who knew? She wrote this startling information in a book that one of the grandchildren gifted to her “Grandmother, A Record Book of Memories.”

Her favorite subjects were Reading and English. She graduated as valedictorian from Palaris Junior College in 1949. She was a member of the school choral group. Her teachers in English literature were influential in her growth as a teacher. She taught in the Philippine public education for 20 years. Among her many awards are two that Dad is very proud of:  Intermediate School Teacher of the Year in 1972 and National School Teacher of the Year in 1974.

In 1975, she joined her husband in San Francisco, California. She did odd jobs at first while waiting to see if she would qualify as a teacher in San Francisco. She went to San Francisco State University to complete bilingual studies and taught bilingual education until Proposition 13 affected her job. In 1980, she moved to Sacramento where she worked at a bank and then retired from the California State Board of Medical Quality Assurance where she helped doctors obtain their medical licenses. This is where she met her good friends, Carmelita Montgomery and Loretta Arroyo.

After retirement, she became busy teaching her grandchildren how to play the piano and held yearly summer recitals to showcase her grandchildren’s prowess and skills.  Her daughter, Perla, muses “Mom filled the hearts and minds of my boys with her love of music…being so patient in giving them piano lessons before they can read a book!”

The dash in her life, the dash between 1930 and 2017, was filled with moments of pride (watching her children graduate, get married, have children and great grandchildren); travels, parties, road trips, camping and teaching her grandchildren how to read and write before they started kindergarten. In her last days on earth, she taught us, her children, about acceptance. She was a remarkable, kind, sweet and very smart woman. Her legacy will live on in our hearts and minds.

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