• PETER’S PINOY PATTER — September 2022

    Bridge Generation News

    Personality of the Month, Art Villarruz, 86: Art was born on April 15, 1936 in Stockton CA, the seventh of nine children of Primo Villarruz, Sr. from Capiz Province in the Philippines and Rita Heffner, of Filipino German heritage from Muslim dominated Iligan, Mindanao, Philippines.  His pensionado father came to America in the early 1920s, graduated with a chemical engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and became the first Filipino chemist hired in Stockton CA. In 1939 he was transferred to San Jose where he worked for more than forty years. Art’s mother, the daughter of a white American army officer and a Filipina mother, also immigrated in the early ’20s.  She came in search of her American father who, after months of writing letters to her in the Philippines, suddenly stopped writing.

    San Jose was where the soft-spoken youngster spent his formative years.  During his teen and college years, Art was active in Filipino youth club activities, playing basketball for the San Jose Agendas and later with the Livingston Dragons,  which then dominated California’s Filipino American basketball circuit. He met his wife of 64 years, Helen (Dacuyan) Villarruz, at a basketball tournament/dance which, at the time, was a common occurrence among young Bridge Generation Filipino Americans.

    Art graduated from San Jose State College where he received his Bachelor’s  and Master’s Degrees in Education.  He later attended San Francisco State College, graduating with a Master’s Degree in Recreation. He then worked for the City of Berkeley for several years, directing a recreation center.  He moved back to San Jose, entering the educational field as an elementary school teacher.  In 1995, Art retired after 34 years in education — twenty years as a school principal.  Shortly thereafter, he moved his family to Merced CA — six miles from Winton where Helen grew up.

    Art’s retirement years have been largely involved with the Filipino American National Historical Society.  He served as president of the Santa Clara Valley FANHS Chapter and later as president of the Central Valley chapter.  He was subsequently elected to the national board of trustees and then to vice president. Art served as FANHS national president 1998-2002.  In 1998 he led a FANHS delegation invited to Manila by the Philippine government to participate in celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Spanish American War in the Philippines.  While in Manila, he was inducted as FANHS national president — the only president to be inducted outside the United States!

    FANHS also inspired him to become the family historian.  His mother rarely spoke of her own family.  It was Art and his inquisitive mind that finally connected him to his mother’s side of the family.  He always knew he had a maternal grandfather — William Heffner (his picture was prominently displayed in the family living room.)  But Art knew little else.  One day, he asked his older sister if she had more information.  She produced letters written to their mother by Captain Heffner.  Although the letters lacked specificity as to family linkages, they contributed enough information for Art who, after a long and rigorous search, finally located members of his mother’s family.

    FANHS was not Art’s only affiliation with Filipino organizations.  He served in leadership positions with the Filipino American Educators Association of California and the Filipino American Council of Santa Clara Valley. Retirement  also enabled him to pursue other interests.   For years, Art regularly played the arduous game of tennis until weakened knees forced him to sit on the sidelines.  Self taught on piano, he enjoys playing jazz on his electronic keyboard and composing original tunes.  Also bringing him great joy was watching his two daughters join him and his school teacher wife Helen as educators.  Dana, their older daughter, is a pre-school teacher while Ruth recently retired after 30 years of teaching. As with most grandparents, perhaps his greatest joy are their  three granddaughters and three great granddaughters.

    As a fitting cap to his story, Art and Helen celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary in July. He claims that he was ten years old at the time they married!

    Passings:

    Lawney Reyes May 13, 1931-August 10, 2022, of Seattle: Born in Bend OR, he was the son of Filipino immigrant Julian Reyes and Native American Mary Christian Hall Wong.  He was one of countless native children taken away from their families to attend Indian School.  An internationally renowned artist, Lawney’s artwork can be found in numerous collections in Europe, Asia, as well as the United States.  One of his best works, the 30-foot long “Blue Jay” sculpture, was exhibited at the Bank of California in downtown Seattle for over 30 years. After his retirement, Lawney turned to writing, authoring several published books.  His first book “White Grizzly Bear’s Legacy: Learning to be Indian” received critical reviews.  His younger brother, was the well-known Native American activist Bernie Whitebear.………… Elizabeth Evelyn (Supat) “Bess” Mesa Curtis: Bess left this world peacefully on July 3, 2022.  Typical of Bridge Generation births of the times, she was born at home in Livingston CA on July 23, 1931.  Her father, Simeon Capala Supat was from the Philippine province of Cebu. Her mother Frances Sanchez was born in Dos Cabezos in what then was in Mexico but today is in Arizona. Bess bore four children resulting in 13 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, and 16 great-great-grandchildren.

    Happy September Birthdays: Mardena (Ambon) Ragsac, Pam Bulahan, Ernie Cabreana, Narce Caliva, Jocelyn (Mercado) Revilla, Aurelio Simon.

    Pinakbet — News Across America

    Filipino American Historical Tidbits: 

    The Anti-Miscegenation Act of 1930 deemed it illegal for Filipinos, along with other persons of color, to marry within the white race.  The Supreme Court Loving v. Virginia decision in 1967 decreed all anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional………….. Thanks to loyal reader Juanita (Tamayo) Lott for pointing out that Monty Manibog — mayor of Monterey Park CA during the 1970s — was the first Filipino to be elected mayor in the continental U.S., not Apolinar Mangsalang former mayor of Lathrop CA in 1993.

    Did You Know:

    On June 28 Steven Raga, won the Democratic primary for New York’s Assembly District 30. The district, majority Asian American and Pacific Islander, is one of the most diverse in the state. Should he win in the November election, he will be the first Filipino American to serve in the NY  Assembly…………. On June 18 it once again was my pleasure to enjoy comedian  Rex Navarrette — this time before a near capacity audience at Seattle’s Four Points Hotel. During the early 1990s he honed his comedy act while a staff member of the Asian American Recovery Services agency in San Francisco where I served as executive director…………. Actress/writer, Georgina Tolentino, recently starred in the short film No Dogs about the 1930 Watsonville riots that resulted in the murder of Filipino farm worker Fermin Tobera. The film won the Petite Grand Prix Audience Award at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York City………… Yakima WA native Richard “Rick” Baldoz will be joining the faculty of Brown University in Providence RI.  He formerly was tenured Chair of the Department of Sociology at Oberlin College in Ohio.

    Musings

    White Supremacy in America, (to) It Has Always Been About People of Color, (to) Equitable Justice for People of Color, (to) Multi-ethnic Democracy Weakened, Part XXII:

    For twenty two issues, your faithful blogger has written on how the ever-increasing growth of white supremacy in America has evolved into today’s most serious threat to our country’s multi-ethnic democracy.  The House Select Committee hearings on the January 6 insurrection clearly showed that American democracy is fragile and continues to be susceptible to the ambitions of a power-hungry demagogue.

    Not only must the U.S. Congress pass critically needed legislation to correct the imperfections in our constitutional and political systems, it also must correct what People of Color and most Americans believe to be our country’s most serious problems, such as: reproductive rights, restoring civil rights protections, voting rights, climate change, common sense gun control, violence prevention, and immigration reforms.

    Sadly, needed legislation has been continuously stymied by the Senate’s adherence to its arcane filibuster rule which, when combined with its 50:50 Democratic/Republican split, has been effectively used by Republicans to stop needed reforms.  (To be continued)

    Biden Deserves Credit for Policy Victories (A summary of the Seattle Times August 7, 2022 op/ed)

    • Only 18 months after taking office Biden’s approval numbers were abysmal.
    • But after the first week of August, there came an overnight change in the president’s political fortunes: gas prices dropped, Congress passed a  bipartisan semiconductor bill, he continued his leadership in the world’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the $1 trillion infrastructure bill began implementation.
    • Recalcitrant U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D) supported the Inflation Reduction Act that provides: prescription drugs price reform, climate change incentives, extension of the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care), 15% tax rate on companies making more than $1 Billion.
    • Reminder: elected presidents are not miracle workers.
    • The president inherited a mess: pandemic, Ukraine invasion, Congressional non-performance, Trump years, high gas prices, rising global inflation.
    • More needs to be done: immigration, high housing cost, college debt, and child care.
    • But in the meantime, Biden has earned the right to celebrate these much needed policy victories.  A win for Biden is a win for all Americans.

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