tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53168794392980323762026-03-28T11:54:05.525-04:00My grandfather is a prolific writer and my grandmother wasn't too far behind him. He's 90 now and she passed away when I was in elementary school. They left a legacy of words to our family and it's past time for it to be shared.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-27570149280461305192011-06-13T17:36:00.001-04:002011-06-13T17:36:12.728-04:00

Last week, I received a completely transcribed version of my grandfather's memoir.  I've been considering starting a separate, stand-alone website for my grandfather and getting the transcript was the "push" that I needed to finally make the change. This blog will remain, but I will only be making changes to the new website: josesibayan.com, from now on.  I'm planning on copying the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-18661808312135570272011-03-17T13:41:00.001-04:002011-03-17T13:53:23.416-04:00

Jose B. Sibayan's Japanese Issued ID"For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory. To him be glory evermore." Romans 11:36 (The Book)This ID saved my life and my family. It is dated September 1943 and bears the signature of Col. Tomas Domaoal who was born in Bangued, Abra. My picture was taken when I was still single before the outbreak of

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-38839777158187698832011-02-22T11:14:00.000-05:002011-02-22T11:14:25.613-05:00

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-1731450188519169172011-02-22T08:14:00.000-05:002011-02-22T08:14:40.809-05:00

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-19116871163415810682011-02-22T08:00:00.000-05:002011-02-22T08:00:46.142-05:00

I've done some research on getting all the pictures, videos, film, and slides digitized and it will cost at the least $438.95 to get everything done.  I'll keep you posted on how it's going.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-83227713930732714892011-02-21T17:12:00.000-05:002011-02-21T17:12:37.626-05:00

Hello everyone.  For those of you who are interested, I've created a pdf/ebook of the first set of memoirs that I've transcribed from my grandfather's writings.  I'm looking for donations to cover the cost of digitizing the huge stack of pictures, videos, slides, and audio tapes that I mentioned in the previous post.  I'm in the middle of figuring out what it costs, but I'm

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-21218035752076415962011-02-17T10:13:00.000-05:002011-02-17T10:13:38.095-05:00

We buried my grandfather a week and a half ago and I've been busy getting my regular life back on track.  It was a beautiful ceremony with family and many old friends coming to pay their respects.  My mother, Jocelyn Lontok; my uncle Antonio Sibayan, and myself Christopher Lontok gave the eulogies. He was buried with full military honors along with a 3-volley salute and the playing of

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-78461656323757159072011-02-17T10:07:00.001-05:002011-02-17T10:15:45.066-05:00

A lot of people have expressed an interest in my grandfather's longer 300+ page memoir. Here are the chapter titles, I just need to go about getting them all transcribed. This is where he goes into detail on his days during WWII, the Bataan Death March, Philippine Military Academy, and his time in Vietnam. There's also more detail on his early life. I've transcribed a handful of entries from

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-23640046608742880572011-02-04T10:16:00.000-05:002011-02-04T10:16:22.183-05:00

As a child, I understood Heaven to be where God and his saints and angels are found, up in the sky beyond the clouds, “beyond the blue yonder.” But when I rode the plane up beyond the clouds, I did not meet St. Peter or any angel up there. Where could Heaven really be? The Bible in Colossians 3:3 says: “Your real life is in Heaven with Christ and God.” This was written by St. Paul when he was in

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-20714386980588303582011-02-04T10:14:00.000-05:002011-02-04T10:14:17.766-05:00

In order to continue my studies in H.S., I had to work and earn my money for matriculation and tuition fees. Father’s slipper making business slowed down following my mother’s death. I joined the Public Works Road Gang earning P0.45 or less than $0.25, a quarter of a dollar a day. I was the only one riding a bike to work from Bangued to Palau. We worked from six to six with an hour’s break for

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-72966388018468406132011-02-02T10:18:00.002-05:002011-02-02T10:35:59.550-05:00

I just wrote up the text for my grandfather's memorial handout. It was hard to sum up that life of his for a little card. Here it is.Jose Bravo Sibayan, Sr., 92, of Tampa was born Patrocinio Sibayan in Bangued, Abra, Philippines on May 18, 1918 and was baptized Jose in 1920. He passed away peacefully Tuesday, January 25, 2011. He is survived by his children: Antonio, Liberty, Aurora, Jocelyn,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-50915425111096703842011-02-01T22:21:00.000-05:002011-02-01T22:21:23.043-05:00

As a third year student in the New Nueva Vizcaya Vocational H.S., with a new name and new classmates, I felt embarrassed when, during the first day roll call, I failed to respond when my new name was called until our teacher included my second name, Sibayan.  I blushed as everyone turned towards me not realizing the fact that I was, for the first time in 14 years being called Jose instead of

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-27922045961982602892011-02-01T22:18:00.000-05:002011-02-01T22:18:17.887-05:00

I saw how lonely father became after mother’s death but he took his loss bravely with that usual smile for anything that happens.  He fell in love with a beautiful young employee of the La Flor de Pita tobacco factory of Don Juan Valera and got married.  That was when I was 2nd year in H.S. in 1933. My uncle Lt. Bravo, visited us and suggested that I enroll in the H.S. in Bayombong,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-37046228505964566742011-01-31T11:26:00.000-05:002011-01-31T11:26:46.562-05:00

Here's a link to Jose Bravo Sibayan's online obituary. http://www.veteransfuneralcare.com/veteransfuneralhome/obituaryDetail.cfm?idObituary=1290&sectionId=3

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-73111049649963151252011-01-28T09:47:00.000-05:002011-01-28T09:47:26.744-05:00

The memorial service for my grandfather will be held at St Paul's Catholic Church in Tampa on February 5, 2011 at 11:00 am.  Reception to follow afterwards in the Parish Center. St. Paul's Catholic Church 12708 N. Dale Mabry Hwy Tampa, FL 33618

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com112708 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33618, USA28.062799 -82.50647628.058065499999998 -82.5137715 28.0675325 -82.499180500000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-52915235971562477442011-01-26T22:04:00.000-05:002011-01-26T22:04:24.192-05:00

Mother's death when I was 14 was the most traumatic experience I had.  I visited her grave almost every day after school hours because the cemetery was close to the Abra H.S. where I enrolled as 2nd year student.  There I cried, I prayed, I wished... she were still alive.  I learned how to sing the Ilocano song entitled "Kanta ti Ulila" (Song of an Orpan): Idi payla

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-10832688552017085432011-01-26T21:34:00.000-05:002011-01-26T21:34:20.178-05:00

6. As a child I was full of imagination and ambitions or "dreams."  For lack of anything to do or play with because then we had no TV or radio set or even papers to read, I used to lie down under a tree, our Asimas tree, and watch the clouds.  I imagined a lot of things formed by the clouds above.  I used to see now and then a pair of KALI, or native hawks, gliding up and down or

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-14088287176100810972011-01-26T11:51:00.001-05:002011-01-26T11:55:58.370-05:00

4. Our first theme writing in 1st year H.S. was entitled: "My Ambition."  Ho I admired and envied our H.S. teachers who were immaculately dressed with coat and tie and shoes, all white from head to foot.  And so my ambition was to become a teacher! Mr. Silverio Gutierrez was my English Teacher.  he gave me a good grade.  I might have flattered his ego.  In 1952 I

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-60423306567157635342011-01-25T22:29:00.002-05:002011-01-26T12:14:35.484-05:00

3. Father told me that the only way we can restore the boundaries or fences of our property on the West and North sides and to prevent our neighbor's rainwater from falling off its roof into our property on the East side is for me to become a LAWYER. But he could not send me to college after my graduation from H.S. in 1935. That year I worked as a laborer in the Bureau of public Works of

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-9531986942264884882011-01-25T19:35:00.003-05:002011-06-13T11:18:27.847-04:00

My grandfather died today at 11:45 am. My mother and father, Jocelyn & Luis Lontok, were with him along with my brother and his family: Manny Lontok, Maricris Lontok, and their two children Maia (7) and Marcus (5). The kids had just sung him a song: Marcus sang "A Child is Born in Bethlehem" and Maia sang "Do-Re-Mi" (Doe a deer, a female deer) and he passed with my brother's hands on him.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-68341175631852929032011-01-23T19:43:00.000-05:002011-01-23T19:43:16.041-05:00

After my grandfather was placed in the nursing home, they determined that he isn't digesting food anymore.  His living will states that he doesn't want to be revived in such circumstances, so he has been put on pain meds and his feeding tube has been removed.  They say that he has 3-10 days left on this Earth, but it depends on him and when he's ready to go. Please pray for his

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com11833 Seminole Blvd, Largo, FL 33778, USA27.8995469 -82.78705427.8948059 -82.7943495 27.9042879 -82.7797585tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-8995528229718154882011-01-23T13:41:00.000-05:002011-01-23T13:41:16.624-05:00

My grandfather was moved into Royal Oaks Manor from my mother's house on January 20, 2011.  The address is 1833 Seminole Boulevard, Largo, FL 33778, his room number is 15.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-46508450133232098822010-07-10T00:14:00.001-04:002010-07-12T15:57:10.051-04:00

Today is Thanksgiving Day.  I am on duty as County Officer (Security Guard) in The Landings Apartments at the corner of Sligh and Havana in Tampa. The cold weather has set in, the breeze near the Egypt Lake is cold and has caused me to have sore throat when I came inside Room 301, my office, a store room of carpentry items.  I ordered the sore throat to go away from me, as God's

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-13127927109535204022010-07-09T22:07:00.000-04:002010-07-09T22:07:14.510-04:00

I'm at my mother's house helping take care of my grandfather while my parents are out.  He arrived here on Monday and it's been pretty tough on her.  My uncles and cousins brought over a hospital bed earlier this week, so it's a little easier.  He can't walk anymore and spends most of his time sleeping.  It's hard to see him so frail.  At this point, we're just trying to

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5316879439298032376.post-89313098679782357782010-07-05T16:40:00.001-04:002010-07-09T22:07:32.475-04:00

My grandfather arrived back in Tampa today. Uncles, aunts and cousins drove him back from Las Vegas since he was not cleared to fly back. He's not in the best of health. Please pray for him.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11421574900282374064noreply@blogger.com0