My Dad

Today is a bitter sweet day. A year ago today, I brought home my beautiful son, and on this day, 69 years ago, my father was born. My father was a great man. A man of many stories, laughs and talents. For those that were lucky enough to know him well, they would tell you stories about my dad; stories that were always filled with adventure, danger and lots of laughs at the end. My dad for the better sense of the word was a scoundrel, a street rat, he ruled his barrio in the Philippines, circa 1950's to 60's, and if you needed someone to stick up and fight for you, that was my dad; always prepared to have his friends back in times of need. No matter what..Even if that friend was sick and dying, he literally took off his most expensive jewelry, told the family to sell it and use the money to pay for whatever medical expenses his friend needed. My dad would never leave someone out in the rain, even if it was a stranger. He said it was because he knew what it was like to be hungry, cold and uncertain about tomorrow.

He came to America in 1974, with only $5 in his pocket, the information his contacts gave him was false, so when he got here, he was lost, confused and hungry with no place to go. Luckily for him, he had God on his side that touched the hearts of a couple that lived in L.A and when he told them his story, they took him home and helped him get started on his new life in America.

Now, aside from having many talents, my dad of course was a very good looking man and from a young age, he found he had a talent for charming women. He got a job at Pic N Save and would tell us the stories about all the women that would have crushes on him, but none of the stories mattered as much as the story of when he met and fell in love with my mother. She was barely entering her twenties as he was starting to exit his, but as soon as she saw him, she knew she found the one the Lord made just for her. She just got hired at Pic N Save as well and my dad said she was too skinny at the time for his taste. But that didn't stop my mom from pursuing and charming him and in a few short years they were married and starting our family. Together they raised 9 beautiful children and though raising such a large family had its toll here and there, there was never a doubt of how much love there was for one another. My dad worked hard to provide for his family, always making sure we had enough to survive. When times got really tough, he would turn to his many talents of selling woodcrafts, tailoring clothes, catering his delicious Filipino cooking. Yes, there were hard times, but even in those hard times, we still had each other and that was something my dad always made sure of.

He was so proud of each of his kids as they grew up and started their own lives. He loved his grandchildren to the moon and back and would light up everytime one of them would visit him. Christmas time was my dad's favorite holiday..He said each of our families had the whole year, but Christmas was his holiday. He would stay up all night and early morning cooking all of his kids favorite dishes of sweet rice, Calderata, Adobo, lumpia...you name it, he cooked it and would take extra delight seeing each of his kids enjoying his cooking. This past Christmas he was so weak and sick, but he still stood up all night cooking, just so he could see his kids faces.

He was a strong man, but also a stubborn man, he refused to allow sickness to get the better of him. Even when his kidneys were failing and he was so weak, he would say what can a doctor do that I can't? I can take care of myself!

Of course he would go to the doctor, but towards the end, we think he knew his time was running out and though he didn't tell us, we think he just wanted to live the remainder of his days surrounded by the people he loved and those that loved him most. On January 26, 2018, at 3:58 in the morning, the world briefly stopped turning, the sky became darker and our family changed forever.

Though we are temporarily sad, our hearts are rejoicing knowing we will get to see him again. Knowing he is no longer sick or in pain. Knowing, he is with our Father in heaven who loves him more than we ever could on earth.

His viewing was a celebration more than a mourning. People were not only comforted, but encouraged and given hope through his life and legacy. His viewing and funeral had over 200 attendees and there was such an outpouring of love that the funeral home came to my mother afterwards and said they never experienced anything like it and were so amazed by our family. I know my dad would be smiling at such a party!

But getting to why this is such a bitter sweet day. Today is my father's birthday. Though it's been emotionally tough getting through the last couple of months, today is especially tough, because he is not here to celebrate it. When I get up, I won' be able to go to his house and wish him a happy birthday. I won' be able to bake his favorite pineapple upside down cake that I promised I would make for him or see his smiling face as we sing happy birthday to him. I won' be able to hear his laugh as he tells us one of his silly jokes or stories, or watch him be so proud and play with my son. These are the things I have to accept for today. But one thing I won't accept is forgetting my dad and that he lived. So to honor him on his special day today, I am sharing him with the world. Happy Birthday Rustico Yparraguirre, for as long as I live, my daddy you'll be.

Rustico Orquita: One of the greatest little fighters

Before there was Manny Pacquiao, Alex John Banal, Bert Batawang and Dode Boy Penalosa, there was my grandfather Rustico Orquita. He died before his prime and so did his story, which is why I decided to honor him today and give you a piece of who I am. Bear in mind though that I am only going off the knowledge I've gained through my years of growing up because he died when my dad was still very young so we never got to meet him and I can't afford those genealogy sights to get his records, so if any family reading this knows any other info or need to correct me, let me know.

Rustico Orquita, born Rustico Yparraguirre was born in the Philippines in 1918. He came to America by stowing away on a freight boat when he was only 16 years old. Once in America, he made his way to Sacramento and married a Caucasian women and had two children with her. My family never met them or learned their names, but knew about them from my grandmother. Though he was married and had a family of his own now, he joined the United States Air Force and it was here that he began his professional boxing career. During his service, he got stationed back in the Philippines and met my grandmother, They fell madly in love and my grandpa promised her, he would go back to the states and divorce his wife, then come back to marry her; this is how our family came to be. As promised, he returned and married my grandmother and had many children with her.  Things could not of been going any better for my grandfather, he had a new wife, many children and he was well on his way to becoming one of the greatest fighters known around the world.  Unfortunately, while training in March of 1950, he suffered a massive cardiac arrest while jogging and ended both his career and life.

I have done an extensive search for anymore information that I can acquire about him or images I can find and below is what I found:

Rustico Orquita
Global ID	168987
sex	male
division	featherweight
country	Philippines
residence	Sacramento, California, USA
won 6 (KO 3) + lost 5 (KO 4) + drawn 4 = 15 rounds boxed 82 KO% 20

		date	Lb	opponent	Lb	W-L-D	last 6	location
		1947-02-26	120	Tirso Del Rosario	120	1-1-0		Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines	L	KO	6	12
	Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) featherweight title
		1947-01-19		Tirso Del Rosario		0-1-0		Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines	L	KO	9
	Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) featherweight title
		1942-07-04		Nat Corum		8-15-8		Stockton, California, USA	D	PTS	10	10
		1942-03-09	123	Elwood Romero	119	10-13-6		Sacramento, California, USA	L	TKO	6
		1942-02-16	120	Jackie Jurich	118	53-11-8		Sacramento, California, USA	W	TKO	8	10
	referee: Frankie Carter
		1942-02-02	124	Jackie Jurich	120	53-11-7		Sacramento, California, USA	D	PTS	10	10
		1941-11-21	128	Angelo Rogers		7-3-3		L-st Arena, Sacramento, California, USA	W	PTS	4	4
		1941-09-08	126	Frankie Jonas		1-1-1		Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, USA	D	PTS	4	4
		1941-09-02	125	Freddie Encinas	123	19-13-10		Ryan's Auditorium, Fresno, California, USA	W	KO	1	4
	referee: Frankie Carter
		1941-08-19	124	Danny Torres	127	3-12-3		Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA	W	PTS	4
		1941-07-21		Angelo Rogers		7-2-3		Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, USA	W	PTS	4	4
		1940-06-17		Frankie Cervente		15-2-6		Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, USA	L	PTS	6	6
		1940-02-26	124	Frankie Cervente	120	11-1-4		Coliseum Bowl, San Francisco, California, USA	W	TKO	2	4
		1940-02-21	124	Ray Martinez	122	1-1-0		National Hall, San Francisco, California, USA	L	KO	4	4
		1939-12-12	125	Jessie Quintana	126	1-0-0		Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California, USA	D	PTS	4	4

verified

unverified

unsanctioned

information obtained from http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=168987&cat=boxer

Below is a picture a family member found for my dad and might be the only picture ever known in existence, unless someone out there has a photo of my lolo...if so, I would love to get a copy for my family.