SPECIAL NOTICE

Special Announcement from the Peter Madelo Jamero Sr. family:

Thank you to all the readers of Peter Jamero’s blog. In case you hadn’t heard, our Dad passed away on November 22, 2024 at the age of 94 in Merced, California. He led a long, happy, productive life surrounded by many family, friends and acquaintances.

We are sharing his obituary below. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support.

Our Dad enjoyed researching, interviewing different people, recording stories, and sharing news about Filipino Americans, especially the Bridge Generation. We are pleased he touched so many people. We encourage you to also collect more stories and pass along our rich Filipino American history. This could include developing your own blog or website too.

Please note that there were two drafts of his December 2024 and January 2025 “Peter’s Pinoy Patter” that were not published since he prepared these before he passed on. These drafts are copied and pasted below verbatim (our apologies for any errors and omissions).

Please note that this blog will be up and running through September 30, 2025. It will not be accessible beginning October 1, 2025.

If you’d like to share your thoughts, memories and experiences related to our Dad, feel free to email his daughter, Jackie Jamero Berganio at jacjamber22@gmail.com. If you would like to share any contributions with others via this blog, please request this of Jackie then she can post your contributions through September 2025.

Should you want to save/ print any content from the blog, such as past articles and information on how to access his books, we encourage you to do so before the blog is taken down. The use of information from this blog is limited to excerpts for your personal use only; other uses need to be authorized by the Peter Jamero family (see contact information below for Jackie Jamero Berganio).

To see past issues of “Peter’s Pinoy Patter” please scroll down this page to the “Archives” section then select a month/ year.

As a reminder, the “Publications” tab of this blog has more information including how to order his books. The “Publications” tab also has new information about his collection of documents and ephemera stored at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Library.

If you have any questions/ comments, please send an email to his daughter, Jackie Jamero Berganio, at jacjamber22@gmail.com.

Peter Madelo Jamero Sr. Obituary:

Peter Madelo Jamero Sr., age 94, passed away peacefully on Friday, November 22, 2024, in Merced, California. He is survived by his six children and their partners Karen Jamero Armada and Ronald Armada, Cheryl Jamero Organo and Larry Wong, Peter Madelo Jamero Jr. and Caryn Swan Jamero, Julie Jamero, Jackie Jamero Berganio and Richard Berganio, and Jeanine Silverio and Michael Silverio; his 15 grandchildren Lauren, Jeremy, Janel, Jordan, Marisa, Cecily, Zachary, Michael, Donovan, Matthew, Alexander, Lindsey, Bonifacio, Ceferino, and Roslin; and his seven great grandchildren Jada, Nia, Kekoa, Theo, Carlos, Tennyson, and Mateo. He is preceded in death by his wife, Teresa Elizabeth Romero Jamero.

Peter was born on August 27, 1930, in Oakdale, California to parents Ceferino Jamero Sr. and Apolonia Madelo Jamero. He graduated from University of California Los Angeles with a Master’s degree in Social Work. Peter’s professional achievements were often Filipino firsts as a human services leader and top-level government executive. He served as a King County executive, San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner, and Director of non-profit community agencies.

He was a published author of two memoirs about growing up as a Filipino in California’s Central Valley. He served on several boards and as a consultant, conducted research studies, contributed countless articles, was active in Filipino Youth Activities (FYA), was a founding board member of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), and used his PETERJAMERO.net blog to keep members connected with one another and apprised of events and relevant issues. The true measure of his success is the sheer amount of people with whom he made meaningful contact.

He was an amazing man who held so many family and friends within his huge heart, valued his community, loved to make friends out of strangers, cherished his roots and publication “Growing Up Brown.” He was a compassionate, caring listener who offered wise advice, had a deep passion for jazz, remained a lifelong, diehard Yankee fan, and possessed amazing intellectual powers.

His family and friends will always remember Dad, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa, Brother, Uncle, and friend as a loving, funny, kind, and intelligent man. He will be greatly missed.

Tribute written by Dr. Kevin Nadal (shared with permission):

The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) is saddened to learn of the passing of Peter Jamero (1930-2024). “Uncle Pete” (as he was known lovingly to so many of us) was a trailblazer in the Filipino American community and beyond. He was a community leader, an educator, an author, a health advocate, a historian, a writer, and a true public servant.

Peter was a FANHS founding member, the first FANHS National Vice President in 1982; and a FANHS National Trustee at several points throughout the past four decades. He was committed to sharing the history of the “Bridge Generation” – the children born before the end of 1945 to at least one Filipino parent who had immigrated to the United States earlier in the century. In his book Growing Up Brown: Memoirs of a Filipino American (2006), he shared his experiences of growing up as a child in a Filipino American farmworker camp in Livingston, CA. In his second book Vanishing Filipino Americans: The Bridge Generation (2011), he described many of the stories of his peers — many who were the children of the Manongs and Manangs — who formed a unique subculture and became leaders of a growing Filipino American community.

In addition to his commitment to the Filipino American community, he dedicated his life to civil service in the states of California and Washington. Some of his leadership positions included: assistant secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services; director of the Washington State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation; director of the King County (WA) Department of Human Resources; vice president of the United Way of King County; executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission; assistant professor of Rehabilitation Medicine of the University of Washington; branch chief in the U.S. Department of Health; Education and Welfare in Washington, D.C.; executive director of the Asian American Recovery Services in San Francisco; executive director of Mental Health Association and Boys and Girls Club in Merced; and Division Chief, Sacramento County Department of Social Welfare.

As a young man, Peter served in the U.S. Navy for four years and was stationed in the Korean War. He earned his Bachelors degree from San Jose State; attained a Masters degree from UCLA in 1957; and was a Public Affairs Fellow at Stanford University from 1969-1970.

In 1953, he married his wife Terri. They were married for 56 years, before she passed away in 2009. They had six children – Karen, Cheryl, Peter Jr., Julie, Jacqueline, and Jeanine. Peter was truly a family man – so committed to his wife and children, but also so loving to his many siblings, nephews, nieces, and extended family. He made sure that the younger generation of his family knew all about their Jamero family history and about Filipino American history in general.

In his later years, Peter continued to live a rich and active life. He enjoyed spending time with his 15 grandchildren, while also maintaining his monthly online newsletter Peter’s Pinoy Patter. He continued to attend FANHS conferences and events and speak on many panels. In fact, during Filipino American History Month in October 2024, he spoke on a virtual panel for the U.S. Department of Labor and was honored in San Francisco as part of Positively Filipino’s “A Tribute to our Manongs and Manangs.”

In 2006, FANHS Founder and Executive Director Dr. Dorothy Cordova wrote the foreword for his book “Growing Up Brown”, reflecting: “On a personal note, Pete and Terri were among the first to respond to my call for help in 1982. I hoped to form an historical society that would continue to collect Filipino American history and share materials already accumulated through a two-year National Endowment for the Humanities project titled “Forgotten Asian Americans: Filipinos and Koreans.” After two years of meetings, we were ready to incorporate the society but needed a name that would proclaim the group’s intent and at the same time be catchy enough so that people would remember us. Pete won the contest with Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS). Thanks, Pete, for giving us a name that continues to grow in national recognition. Thanks also for many years of pleasant memories.”

FANHS National President Emerita Emily Lawsin shares: “Uncle Pete and Auntie Terri mentored me as a young teen in the Filipino Youth Activities Drill Team and then when I was elected to the FANHS National Board of Trustees in 1992. He wrote and spoke often about what he called the “Young Turks”, Pinoy activists of the early 1970s of my hometown of Seattle, who served as inspiring mentors to many of us student activists. He visited me when I was a graduate student at UCLA, and showed me where he and his family lived when he was a graduate student there, joking, ʻWe had so many kids, they called us fraternity row.’ He introduced track themes to the FANHS national conferences and asked me to serve as ‘Youth Track Chair’ for the FANHS 1994 conference in San Francisco. Many years later, he told me that he was proud that so many of those youth who attended are now community leaders today. When I was elected National Vice President in 2016, Uncle Pete sent me a congratulatory note, saying, ‘Please feel free to call on this old timer FANHS founding vice president for any assistance.’ I did, and he was so helpful.. Thank you, Uncle Pete, for everything. Deepest condolences to the Jamero family, especially to his children who also mentored me on the FYA.”

FANHS National President Dr. Kevin Nadal adds: “Uncle Pete was such an inspiration to so many of us. He was also so humble, so kind, and so supportive of the younger generations. He always made me feel so seen and loved. Thank you Uncle Pete for all you have done for us and our community. Your extraordinary legacy will live on forever.”

December 2024 Peter’s Pinoy Patter:

Bridge Generation News

BG Personality of the Month: Ben Laigo, 88:

I’ve admired Ben as a successful entrepreneur of many interests and accomplishments since I moved to Seattle in 1970, but until we met for our September 20 interview over breakfast at a lakefront bistro, I learned he was much more. He comes from a large family of achievers. But unlike most of his sociable and sometimes boisterous siblings, he is quiet, shuns the limelight, and prefers the company of longtime friends. While he can be seemingly at ease among relative strangers at gatherings, he admits feeling uncomfortable being among too many people.

How, then, did this quiet person accomplish so much? To begin with, Ben always had an unbridled curiosity about the world around him; there wasn’t anything Ben was afraid of tackling. At age seven he organized a neighborhood boy’s club and later ventured downtown to shine shoes. As a teenager, he learned the value of hard work. He took on an assortment of part time jobs — mostly dirty, monotonous work. His first job was peeling potatoes at a snack bar. He washed stacks of dishes at Ivar’s, a popular waterfront restaurant where his father served as chef. He got dirty at construction sites. Not all his part time employment were dull. He also worked at the plush Town and Country Club.

From the types of jobs he experienced as a teenager, perhaps it was inevitable Ben would learn how to play poker. Not only did he learn how to play it well, he usually won and was often asked to hold IOU’s from losing poker players. Once, a player owed Ben so much money, he decided to give Ben his 1936 Classic LaSalle Cadillac in lieu of cash. Ben traded it in for a late model convertible!

When he was 18, Ben obtained a position as a window displayer at the Frederick & Nelson department store. Most significant, it was where he met Beverly. They would wed in 1960 and become parents to five children — two boys and three girls. The boys often worked for Ben in his various ventures before settling into their own careers.

Ben also has a keen sense for economic opportunities. During the 1950s, he developed an interest in the buying and selling of domains. Over the years, he estimated he must have bought and sold more than 2,000 domains, at little or no cost or time. He currently owns 22 domains. Perhaps his most significant venture during this period was the establishment of a coffee house in Seattle. While on duty with the Army Reserves, he and a few of his buddies checked out beatnik coffee houses — then popular in San Francisco. One look convinced him that coffee houses could be successful in Seattle. After researching the SF coffee houses, he began the task of opening a similar one in Seattle. He leased a suitable location on Seventh Avenue. The coffee had to be made from a traditional expresso machine, which was specially installed by a plumber. Ben also wanted to replicate the bohemian roots of San Francisco’s coffee houses. After searching Seattle’s second-hand shops, he decided on an old door that would be the perfect opening to the beatnik atmosphere inside. He aprop0riately named the coffee house, “The Door.”

July 1959 was the grand opening for The Door — the first establishment in Seattle to make coffee drinks using a traditional espresso machine. The Door not only provided live music, but also served as venues where local musicians could showcase their talents. It became an informal gathering place where people exchanged ideas over cups of coffee. And thanks to Seattle’s soggy climate, it became immensely popular. Other similar coffee houses soon opened. The Door became known for its jazz. Once, KOMO-TV even televised a live jazz concert at The Door. At the age of 23 Ben was perhaps Seattle’s youngest entrepreneur.

According to an article in the September/October issue of Seattle magazine, ironically, it was Ben’s love of jazz that ultimately led to The Door’s eventual demise. In 1961, he organized a jazz festival at the old Green Lake Aqua Theater. It was a smashing success, so Ben decided to make the following year’s festival at the Aqua Theater bigger and better. He contracted with the internationally popular Dave Brubeck Quartet as the headline act. Unfortunately, it rained for the entire three nights, resulting in disastrously low attendance — the Aqua Theater was an outdoor venue! The event ended up being a huge financial loss for Ben and he was forced to sell The Door.

Fortunately, the sale of The Door coincided with another Seattle milestone when The Space Needle restaurant opened to the public following the closure of the World’s Fair in October 1962. Ben’s business acumen was quite well-known throughout the city and so he was brought on to help run the famous landmark as restaurant host, while his wife, Beverly, worked as one of the elevator operators.

Ben’s creative energy has been a constant. In 1971, he invented a Seattle food-themed board game based on Monopoly called “Main Entrée” that featured local restaurants in its game design. It had a most successful launching which sold 15,000 games. Yet another venture was operating a Summer Lunch Program for Youth under contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1972. (Our six children worked in the program, much to the relief of their parents who didn’t have to worry about them having nothing to do during summer vacation.) In 1975, he catered a private luncheon party for King Olaf of Norway and opened Caesars Restaurant in nearby Shoreline in 1989. Ben and his brother Ed invested in and promoted a planned community golf course in Deer Park in 1995. A street within the complex is named “Laigo Lane.”

The above ventures are just a sample of Ben’s many endeavors. Some were successful, others not so. Ben’s operating philosophy has always been to do the bulk of the necessary work himself, including complicated research and analysis. If a venture failed, he could only blame himself; if it succeeded, so be it! Some of his ventures were because of his excellent business reputation, such as the Seattle Needle Restaurant. His job as manager of the 370-member Harbor Club, an exclusive men’s private downtown restaurant, was also due to his business acumen.

In 1960, the Harbor Club Board of Directors were looking for an all-Filipino work force. Ben was a natural choice as manager. Perhaps as significant, the Harbor Club was only open for lunch, which gave Ben additional time to work on other ventures. Moreover, the club’s choice for an all-Filipino staff gave many local young pinoys an opportunity for part-time work to help pay for their college education. Ben became the Harbor Club manager for 28 years. In 1988 the board hired an Executive Director to be in charge of operations. Ben was devastated, believing his successful tenure as manager did not require the club to hire an Executive Director for him to report to; but to no avail. He chose to resign.

Ben did not neglect his community. He regularly hosted children at The Door during Christmas. And he could be counted on as a generous contributor to non-profit agencies serving children.

Ben was born Buenaventura Laigo on July 14, 1936 in Seattle to Valeriano Laigo and Bibiana Montante, both from the Ilocos region of the Philippines — the fifth of nine children. He went to Seattle parochial schools, graduated from O’Dea High School, and attended Seattle University for one year. As noted earlier, he comes from a family of achievers, who could also be boisterous in discussions. Ben described these moments as times when he was his usual quiet self. However, he always asserted himself when the occasion warranted.

Today, in retirement, he keeps himself busy with his various ventures and spending valuable time with Beverly, his wife going on 64 happy years, and their children. He is working on his latest venture — promoting a free marketing game for Caesar International. And yes, he continues to win at poker. Perhaps most reflective of his personal philosophy is the following quote from Seattle’s morning newspaper in 1960: “If you want to do something, get it out of your system and go do it. If you fail at that, start over and do something else. But keep doing.”

Happy December Birthdays to:

Rose (Bucol) Jamero, Connie (Muca) Jamero, Rosemary (Quitiquit) Figueroa, Clem Morales, Phil Ventura/

Pinakbet — News Across America

Filipino American Historical Tidbits:

On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris is signed, Spain cedes the Philippines to the United States for $20 million.

Did You Know:

USA Today: Jollibee was named as the best fried chicken of all national chain restaurants serving chicken.

Musings

Election gleanings

(The Browning of America)

The Press is too Easy on Trump:

I have long believed that the press is often the only way the public can receive honest, non-partisan news. However, I believe its recent campaign coverage of Trump compared to his Democratic opponents is uneven. For example, when Trump issues one of his lies without offering corroborating evidence, the press tends to regard it as, “It’s just Trump.” But when Democrats like President Biden or Vice President Harris fail to provide evidence, the press can’t let it go.

Happy Holidays

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January 2025 Peter’s Pinoy Patter:

Bridge Generation News

(Today’s Bridge Generation — now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s — are a rapidly declining population. Over the years, most members of these American born children of the first wave of Filipino immigrants have passed away. To remember their contributions to the history of Filipinos in America, a deceased BG individual is a recurring feature of this column. This month features William “Bill” Sorro, 1939-2007, I-Hotel and tenant rights activist.)

The last of eight children, Bill was born on August 13, 1939 in the Filmore District of San Francisco. His birth name was Cuastin or Quastin but anglicized to William by his parents. At the time, the Fillmore District may have ben popularly known as Harlem of the West but it also included a significant number of Filipinos because of their skin color and their affinity with the black residents. At age seven, Bill began selling the Black newspaper Sun, the oldest black newspaper west of the Mississippi. As a newspaper boy, he got to intimately know the community, particularly Filipinos. He also became well acquainted with the denizens of pool halls and became an accomplished pool player. In public school he experienced racial discrimination and stood out in Great Depression clothing. When he attended Balboa High School in the Excelsior District in south San Francisco, he was tormented by White boys almost on a daily basis. Moreover, his counselor discouraged his interest in becoming an astronomer. Instead, he “should learn how to fix cars.” Regardless, he was able to receive a graduation diploma — the only one of his family to graduate from high school. After graduation he immediately went to work as a rag boy on an oil tanker that sailed to and from Alaska.

Bill married his first wife Barbara Ackerman soon after graduation. By the time he turned 22, they had four children. The young family lived in various places in San Francisco. In Hunters Point, another SF minority neighborhood, he was introduced to street and revolutionary politics while working as a warehouseman unloading cargo along the waterfront. A drug user, he gave it up after finding a lump on his forearm. Bill turned to dancing instead, returning to his old haunts at the Fillmore. Dancing motivated Bill to travel to Cuba where he had several significant experiences. First, he saw brown people who were healthy, part of society and not hopeless. Black and brown people were respected and valued. It was when he realized it was not his family that was messed up but the capitalist system of America. He returned to San Francisco to become a revolutionary with politics rooted in serving the people. Now divorced, his return to San Francisco was when he met and married Giulliana Milanese. Their first home was in the I-Hotel. He spent rest of his life fighting for decent housing and labor rights.

In the 1970s Bill entered the building trades. Under the Power to the People Movements across the U.S. people of color began to pursue jobs that had traditionally been held by White men –including ironwork. In SF Filipino American Fred Basconcillo had attained the position of President of the local union. Under Basconcillo’s leadership, Bill not only fought for labor rights on behalf of men but for women as well. He continued to work as an ironworker in Oakland and SF until his back could no longer support the heavy lifting.

Bill then made his way back into labor organizing in the Mission District where his older brother Rich Sorro served as President of the Mission Hiring Hall. He worked with Single Room Occupancy residential hotels along Sixth Street and through the South of Market (SOMA) District, which was home for many older Manongs. On Christmas he served as Santa Claus for the SOMA children. When the dot.com boom hit SF during the mid-1990s, he worked on behalf of tenant rights in SOMA. (I often ran into Bill on SOMA streets when he worked as the prime organizer in the Mission District for the Mission Housing Development Corporation in the late 1990s.)

His work in the Mission brought Bill back to the scene of his beginnings – the I-Hotel neighborhood. He was a team member of activists that included Al Robles, Emil de Guzman, Estell Habal, and Helen Toribio who began to lay the groundwork for the rebuilding of the I-Hotel — demolished in 1981 by real estate developers. Their work was completed in 2005. Bill was not only able to see the new I-Hotel rise, but also felt the joy in again experiencing the sounds, music, food, and the laughter and tears of the community in the I-Hotel Manilatown Center housed on the first floor. Bill passed away on August 27, 2007. Outside the I-Hotel there is a mural with Bill looking down. He is smiling. (Acknowledgements: Giulio Salvador Sorro and Desu Sorro, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Filipina/X/O American Studies, pp 891-4; Peter’s Pinoy Patter.)