December... thus far

I've always loved when December rolled around...it meant the holidays were here! But this year, December didn't start off so merry.
A couple of days ago, I got a call from my dad that my grandfather suffered a massive heart attack. It's not looking good. I'm hoping to get tickets for me & the kiddo (the baby is still free) to be with my family on Guam during this time, but because of the holiday season, the prices are freakin ridiculous! I'm still hopeful that we can find tickets lower than what I found so far.
But that's not all that's putting a damper on our holiday cheer....
Lat week we lost our godfather (thru marriage). He's really the hubs' great uncle. It wasn't sudden, we knew he was sick, but we can't help but feel saddened by his passing.
So, please, keep our family in your prayers...and if you're not the praying kind, send us some good vibes. Thanks.
The following was sent to us by our Auntie Marissa, his daughter.

RODOLFO ANGELES PULIDO was born in Naic, Cavite, Philippines on September 17, 1934 to Justina Rillo Angeles Pulido of Barangay Balsahan and Jose Calantog Pulido of Barangay Kanluran. He spent the first four years of his life there in Cavite until his mother passed away while the family was visiting their Angeles relatives in Davao City in January 1939. Since his father "Daddy Joe" was serving abroad in the United States Navy, Rudy (called "Ruding") and his younger brother, Rolando (called "Rolly") were placed in the custody of their aunt and uncle, Ceferino and Pilar Angeles Lopez, in Davao City. Kuya Opreng and Ate Pilar, as they were affectionately called, cared for Ruding and Rolly throughout their formative years as if they were their own children. As a result, Ruding excelled throughout his education at Palma Gil Elementary School and Davao City High School. In fact, Ruding was on track to be the class Valedictorian, but instead, left the Philippines for the United States prior to graduation. The time was right in 1952 for both Ruding and Rolly to finally reunite with Daddy Joe who was living in Washington, D.C. serving under President Harry Truman's Secretary of the Navy at the Pentagon. It was there in Washington, D.C. that Rudy graduated from Anacostia High School in June 1953.

Rudy enlisted in the United States Navy in August 1953 as a Stewart Recruit (E-1) during the Korean War to follow in his father's footsteps and to earn enough money for college. He graduated 2nd in his class at the U.S. Navy Radioman Communications School in Bainbridge, Maryland in June 1954. Rudy was assigned to duty station at the U.S. Navy Base (Communications Station) Charleston, South Carolina, during which time he obtained his American citizenship papers and became a full-fledged American citizen. Rudy also held their Morse Code record with 30 words per minute, both sending messages and receiving messages. As one of the top graduates, Rudy earned the privilege to choose from a list of where to be stationed. He decided on the USS Forrestal aircraft carrier. However, Daddy Joe had plans of his own. Unbeknownst to Rudy, Daddy Joe made a special request to the Secretary of the Navy for he and his son to be assigned together at NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Headquarters, Southern Europe in Naples, Italy for the last two years of both their U.S. Naval service. The request was granted, and Daddy Joe and Rudy, along with his stepmother "Mama Pearl," were able to live off base together from 1955 to 1957 in an apartment within view of Mount Vesuvius and overlooking Naples Bay. Rudy rose rapidly to the rank of RM1 (Radioman First Class E-6) in the shortest possible time of 3 years and 10 months. Rudy served a total of eight years in the U.S. Navy from August 1953-August 1961 (four years active duty and four years reserves). He earned the National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal.

After being discharged from the Navy in August 1957, Rudy planned to enroll in the University of Milan. But upon retirement from over 30 years in the Navy, Daddy Joe and Mama Pearl chose to retire in Washington, D.C., so Rudy used his Educational G.I. Bill Benefits to enroll at the University of Maryland at College Park in the Fall of 1957 to be near them. It was meant to be, as a romance developed with Ester Lagmay, a Fine Arts major from Ft. Meade, Maryland. The day after Rudy graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BSCE), he and Ester were married in February 1962.

Rudy accepted a position with the California Division of Highways (now called Caltrans), so they spent their honeymoon moving cross-country to Los Angeles. They were both employed at the California Division of Highways. Rudy was involved in several major transportation infrastructure projects, such as the I-405 San Diego Freeway through Mullholland; I-10 Santa Monica Freeway; I-105 Freeway; and most especially the I-605/91 Freeway Interchange in Cerritos. By 1963, their first child, Randolph Antony was born. After lots of hard work and with their savings and GI Bill, they purchased the family's first home in Valinda, California. It was a loving home that was eventually filled after the birth of their children, Marissa Lynn in 1966, Mark Emmanuel in 1968, and Rodolfo Jr. in 1970.

Aside from his engineering career, Rudy was also interested in real estate, land development and finance. Therefore, in 1966 he obtained his California Real Estate Brokers License. By 1970 he opened his own real estate office in the San Gabriel Valley. By 1972 the Pulido family outgrew their Valinda house and needed a larger one. It was from supervising the construction of the I-605/91 Freeway Interchange years earlier that Rudy was drawn to the area of Dairy Valley (renamed City of Cerritos), so he and Ester purchased a new home there. Wanting to devote full-time to real estate, Rudy left the California Division of Highways. In 1973, he was the first Filipino American in the nation awarded to own the Red Carpet Realtors Franchise in Anaheim, California. He is credited with helping many families purchase their first homes in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, especially the numerous Filipino American families from the Long Beach Naval Base who relocated to the Cerritos area.

Rudy was as an active community leader and servant beyond his professional careers in Engineering and Real Estate. He served as President of the Philippine Society of South East Los Angeles, President of the Philippine Technical and Professional Society, President of the Southern California Philippine-U.S. Veterans Association, and Board Vice Chair of the Filipino Seniors of Cerritos. He also an active member of the PTA and served on several Board Advisory Committees of the ABC Unified School District, where all of his children received their K-12 education. He was also an active Member of the Anaheim Board of Realtors, Toastmasters Club, Naic Association of Southern California, and the Knights of Columbus. A devout Catholic, Rudy served many years as a Lector and Eucharistic Minister at St. Irenaeus Catholic Church in Cypress and as an usher at Holy Family Catholic Church in Artesia.

Rudy most recently served as Post Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1846 Cerritos-Artesia from 2004 to 2006. During Rudy's command, VFW Post 1846 collaborated with the Fine Arts and Historical Commission and the Cerritos City Council to erect a stunning memorial dedicated to all veterans who served in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States. Thanks in large part to Rudy's leadership, Ester's advocacy as a Cerritos Fine Arts and Historical Commissioner, and the dedicated efforts of many others to this noble cause, the beautiful Veterans Memorial that now stands today at the front of the Cerritos City Hall will stand as a lasting tribute to all veterans. Rudy also coordinated the processing of Cerritos veterans applications for the City of Cerritos Veterans Project web site.

With all of Rudy's lifetime achievements of serving his country, community, and the Lord, breaking racial barriers in the Navy, being one of the very first Filipino American realtors in Southern California, pioneering a wave of Filipinos to relocate from Southern California to Las Vegas, and lobbying the City of Cerritos to honor its Veterans, Rudy was above all else, most proud and honored to be a dedicated family man. When asked what he would most like to be remembered for, he responded in his own words, "a good citizen and good family man who loved my wife and kids and provided for them. All the decisions I made were for the good of our family."

On December 2, 2009 at 8:56 a.m., our loving father Rodolfo Angeles Pulido passed peacefully in his sleep with family at his side to join God our Father in the next life. After battling Congestive Heart Failure and Parkinson's Disease for two years, he is now in the loving embrace of our Lord. Rudy truly lived a full and happy life. Above all else, he will indeed be most fondly remembered as a loving, caring, dedicated husband, father and grandfather by Ester his loving wife of 47 years; Randy, Marissa, Mark, and Rod as well as Ralph, Gloria, and Marifi, his children; and Malia and Mark, Jr., his grandchildren. Rudy's legacy of service to country, community, family and God will proudly continue through the Pulido family's future generations.