Concepcion Cordero Herbilla's Obituary
Concepcion Cordero Herbilla, 74, known to many as Connie or her homegrown name Eque, passed away on August 11, 2022. Connie is survived by her husband of 52 years, her “pretty rosebud” - Lemuel; siblings Franklin, Michael, Shelah, Eddie and Marilou; many in-laws, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and cousins who will miss her dearly. She was predeceased by her Tatay and Nanay (father and mother) parents, Jose Loquinario Cordero and Felisa Songcayawon Tabaque; brother, Roland, and her infant daughter Dadisa.
Connie was born on December 8, 1947 in the remote highlands of San Remigio, Antique in the Philippines. She gushed about her hometown: “With its jagged mountains that seem to touch the sky… rolling hills, lush greenery, always an artist's delight.”
She remembered her father Jose quite fondly, dubbing him “very unassuming but the most Christian man I know”. She greatly admired his grit, a military man in pre-war Philippines that brought him and his brother Alipio to the war-infested areas of Jolo and Tawi-tawi, all the way to Borneo. A United States Armed Forces in the Far East guerilla official in World War II, he served as Captain leaving his wife and young kids behind. His later jobs often distanced him from his family, with Connie living with her other relatives and cousins, which established her independence and fortitude at a young age.
She also loved talking about the town’s storied characters - from the time she first met her classmate Lemuel in Calag-itan Elementary School at age 8, the flapping taped mustache of Tay Domeng at a market play, her Spanish teacher at Antique Academy, her life with her beloved aunt Nay Saling, to the exploits of her casanova mayor grandfather Laureano Tabaque. She said it inspired her to write and dream, and claimed despite the scandalous (and hilarious) happenings in the villages, people went about their lives and accepted everyone. No matter where her life took her, Connie always searched for that community, and found it in the many friends who surrounded her.
Connie got her bachelor’s degree at Central Philippine University in Iloilo City. She majored in English Literature with a minor in Mathematics - a duality that spoke of Connie’s creative mind and her numerical intelligence. She was a student who worked part-time and was assigned to the University Library in true bibliophile fashion. It was here in school that she also developed in her faith, received Christ as her personal Savior and was baptized.
During her college years, a friendship with Rufina Clemente and Anacleta Barcebal flourished that lasted a lifetime. An active member of the student paper Central Echo, she rose through the ranks, eventually becoming co-Editor-in-Chief with fellow staffer Noeme Tantioco (who later on married Jun Morales) and became family by affinity.
A romantic at heart and with a tale that could rival West Side Story, she ran off and married the love of her life Lemuel Elequin Herbilla on March 13, 1970. She got her first job teaching college classes at Central Mindanao University in Musuan, Bukidnon. At CMU, she served as Department Chairperson in the Department of Languages and Literature for several years before she left the country.
Connie received her masters degree in Literature at Silliman University in Dumaguete, where she published an oral history collection of folk songs, stories and poetry that brought her and a tape recorder to far flung outskirts of the region. It is a comprehensive literary pursuit still referenced in theses and dissertations of local students today.
America beckoned in 1984 as she became a Doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She became a tutor for collegiate football players and met her roommate Kiyoko, whom she credits with her only cooking legacy to her nieces - baked salmon, and chicken with mushroom sauce. In her time there, a Mrs. Putnam took her in, a woman she considered an angel to the very end. Her husband Lemuel was then working in San Diego, California and would do 8-hour long drives to see her on weekends while listening to their country favorites such as Johnny Cash and Patti Page. Connie also spent a few semesters at Auburn University in Alabama and lived with her in-laws Victor and Cynthia Herbilla.
In 1987, she was hired on the spot as a teacher at Compton Unified School District. She spent most of her 28-year career there as an esteemed educator at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. Connie also taught English & Citizenship classes in adult schools and community college. She was actually in classrooms when both the LA Riots of 1992 and the 1994 Northridge Earthquake happened. Connie is also a published author of a children’s book titled Gab's Send-Off For Grandpa in 2009, a collaboration she did with an illustrator and former student in Bukidnon.
Connie’s legendary selflessness, kindness and compassion are unparalleled - she opened her home no matter where she was to friends and family: a mythical Ellis Island for those wanting to start a new life in a new country, or a shelter for struggling students. A fiercely loyal friend, she supported every business and endeavor as if it was her own. Connie and Lemuel also privately supported pastors and workers in the Baptist Ministry of San Remigio, a commitment to their Christian faith and devotion markedly influenced by her Nanay Peling and parents-in-law, Victor Camacho Herbilla and Natividad Enson Elequin.
She was never one to put on airs or grab the spotlight, so in the background she dedicated her life to helping others as a woman of many hats: a tax consultant, an immigration advisor, a headhunter, a matchmaker, a saleswoman, a philanthropist, a driver, a writer, a confidante, a mother whenever needed. Connie loved her family deeply - the famous giver of towels and checks at Christmas, herbal supplements, door-to-door boxes, tummy cuddles, long and caring voicemails and most importantly, a pure and colossal heart who changed innumerable lives for the better, forever.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent directly via Connie’s memorial site: http://spot.fund/Cr4YN2
All donations are set to go directly to her husband, Lemuel, as he navigates this new chapter in life that follows after Connie’s passing.
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