Goodbye, Tessie!

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 11:29:49 -0400
Subject: Tess Rivera Becker
Dear All,

On behalf of myself, my daughter Susie, and of course Tessie, I wanted to
thank you for the kind e-mails and letters that you have sent us over her
passing.

It is ironic that it took such a sad occurrence for you all to "meet up"
with her again after all these years.  I know she would have been so very
happy to have been in touch with all of you as she always spoke fondly
about her school years and
her friends in The Philippines.  I'm sure God has a reason for the way
things happened.

Please pass on our thanks to the other members of her class at UP Prep.
Certainly if any of you are in the New York area
we would welcome to visit with you and tell you something about the last
half of her life in return for knowing more about the
first half.

Again thank you and God Bless.

Sincerely,

Jeff and Susan Becker

To: UP Prep Class 1965 via the Virtual Florist <abu@nfa.gov.ph>
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 11:31:59 -0400
Subject: Re: Virtual Flower Bouquet Delivery/ Tess Rivera Becker

Thank you all so very much from both me and Susie and of course, Tessie.

Please let me know the web site address for your class as Sue and I would
like to know more about this part of Tess's life.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Susan and Jeff Becker
 
 
 
 

Ana, thanks for sending this. I am writing about another death, that of
Teresita Rivera. She was also in our batch. Ang malungkot niyan, she was also
living in Great Neck, a few minutes from us. She died last week of pulmonary
hypertension and was waiting for a lung transplant. Had I known, I could have
visited her and we could have also gone to see her when we had the reunion.
Her daughter, Susie, goes to the same high school as my children. In fact, my
daughter has been telling me about Susie, na Pilipina raw ang Nanay.
Magandang bata. We even went to the same church but I never really bothered
to find out who she was. I called her husband, Jeff Becker and he was in
tears. I gave him a standing invitation for lunch whenever he felt better.
Naiyak tuloy ako. I have been in the neighborhood for the last two years and
I didn't even know she was around. Now, it is too late. Apparently, wala
siyang masyadong mga kaibigan from home.
 
 

Ana B,

Eto ang email ni Ling tungkol sa  visit niya sa mga naiwang Becker.  Paki
broadcast na lang ang email address ni Jeff sa class kung gustong nilang mag
email nang condolences.  His daughter's name is Susie.

Jeff.Becker@Remy-Cointreau.com

Magpapadala na raw si Ling ng Mass Card.
 

Daddie

Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 12:23:32 EDT
Subject: Re: news regarding one of your classmates
 

Daddie, maybe we should send a mass card for Tessie kahit na medyo huli. I
will take care of this. I e-mailed Inday because she cc'd me the message she
sent you. Ang sakit naman talaga. She was so near my house and I never got to
see her. My daughter goes to the same high school as her daughter at medyo
idol ng anak ko dahil she was the leader of this group called The Kilties,
some sort of a cheerleading group. My daughter told me nga that Susie's mom
died last week. Alam kong Pilipina yung mommy ni Susie but I never really
gave that info much thought. Di sana nabisita ko nga at napuntahan nating
lahat when you came to the house. I called up Jeff and he was still in tears
but very happy to know that a classmate of Tess took time to call. We saw
father and daughter at church yesterday, their grief very apparent. It would
be nice if the others in the group can send messages of condolence through
Jeff's e-mail pero hindi ko alam ang address.
 
 
 

Subject: FW: Tessie Rivera's funeral
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 11:29:42 -0700

Ana B,

I thought I'd share this message with you and Jeff's email address as well
kung gusto mong sumulat o i-share sa class - dahil I trust your judgment,
minsan kasi out of step ako sa mga social graces.  Jeff did indicate na
gusto niya tayong makilala at sinabi rin niya na hindi rin siguro gusto ni
Tess na nakita natin siya in her state of health when we were all in NY.
FYI, i fo-forward ko ang mga web page address nang class for him to view -
kasama na rin yung tribute which has Tessie's picture from the Scroll, sabi
niya makikila niya si Tessie.  Balak ko ring sulatan si Susie who is 17 and
graduating from high school next week.

Here's his address - email and snail mail.

JEFF.BECKER@REMY-COINTREAU.COM

23 Martin Court
Great Neck
New York 11024

Ingat,

Daddie

 
 Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 11:21 AM
 Subject: Tessie Rivera's funeral
 
 Hi Ling,
 
 Just spoke with Tessie's husband Jeff Becker.  I was hoping you could take
 time out of your busy schedule to attend her funeral - or at least the
 services which will be held right in your neighborhood tomorrow:
 
 6/19/99 9:45 AM
 Aloysius Church
 Middleneck Road
 
 I hope you know where it is.
 
 The family address is:
 
 23 Martin Court
 Great Neck, New York 11024
 
 Jeff would love to meet you.  He regrets not meeting any of us while we
 were there but extends an invitation to whoever comes to town.  Apparently
 Tessie was comptroller of a NY Marriot and has been living in NY since
 1973 - she was in L.A. in '71 and '72 (right about the time you and Eric
 were here at the Occidental I believe).  Buhay nga naman...
 
 I will be writing husband and daughter Susie and share with them snippets
 of what I remember about Tessie - I'm sure they'd like to learn about her
 then ... to keep her memory alive.  He did confirm her mom had a
 restaurant on Herran ("Continental") where some   peace corps volunteers
 lodged (kaya ang recollection ko eh dorm...).  She was doing premed when I
 last spoke with her, I didn't know she went on to complete her studies in
 Accounting.  I believe he is one too and they met in New York when she was
 transferred by the company from L.A.
 
 Take care now.  Thank you.
 
Daddie

Dear Inday,

Salamat sa balita tungkol kay Tessie Rivera, malungkot man.  I cannot help
but think how ironic this piece of news is because 19 of us (class 1965) got
together in New York for 3 fabulous days which culminated in a luncheon
through early evening affair at Ling's place in Great Neck, Long Island.  I
would have loved to say goodbye to a classmate.  It is a sobering thought.

I have been wondering about Tessie actually, I believe I shared that with
some of our classmates here in L.A. because I remember hanging out with her
during college - over at their place in Herran (Pedro Gil) which was a dorm
of sorts.  It is really sad.  Her family will certainly be in our prayers and
I do intend to call her husband Jeff.  Her picture is one of many lifted from
the Scroll that flashes in one of the pages my husband Noel created for the
class - kaya namin naalala.

Anyway, I'm copying our webmaster Ana B (hopefully gumagana ang group address
na kinopya ko sa isang email niya) so alam nating lahat ang tungkol sa
pagpanaw ni Tessie Rivera.

Again, thank you so much for passing on the news.  Let's keep in touch.
Regards to your family and take care of yourself now...

Daddie

Ana,

Here's Inday's original message, the reply to which was copied to your
Prepian class 1965 address.  I thought a reply would have the original
message (that's how my server delivers replies) ... so my apologies and here
it is...
- - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Daddie,
It has been a while since we've heard from each other. It just occurred to me
that Tessie Rivera belonged to your class. Well, we just received word from
her husband that she passed away yesterday. She was diagnosed with primary
pulmonary hypertension last Sept. and has been in and out of the hospital
since then. The only recourse was for her to have a lung transplant and I
think she was placed on the list for that. But you and I know how long that
could take.  Last time I spoke to her was in December and we couldn't talk
for long because she was getting short of breath.

Tess has been living in Great Neck,  Long Island with her husband, Jeff
Becker and daughter
Susie, who's graduating from high school next week.  I talked  to Tess'
sister this afternoon and she said that the viewing is scheduled for today. I
didn't  get the rest of the funeral detailsbecause her sister was just about
to leave for the funeral home.

Anyway, please keep her and her family in your prayers. I cc'ed Ling because
I understand you live in Long Island too. Tess' phone # is 516-482-7292  in
case you'd like to get in touch with her family.  Jeff said that the best
time to call  would be at 10 pm.

Daddie, I'll touch bases with you again soon.

Regards,
Inday