By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

(Journal Group Link International)

Fil-Am Veterinarian from Sorsogon Pays Tribute to Military

C HICAGO (JGLi) – A Filipino-American veterinarian, celebrating her first 70 years of her birthday, paid tribute to the military, which became springboard to the career of three of her eight children.

At her birthday celebration held last June 26 at the cafeteria of her St. Gregory the Great Parish at Chicago’s northside, Dr. Dona Lariosa Hernandez urged guests to “remember our men and women in uniform, who dedicated their lives for the love of their country, especially my son, Alan, who died while undergoing training to pursue his dream as a U.S. Marine.”

PFC Alan L. Hernandez, was training with the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego, California, in 2003 when he died.

Aside from Alan, one of Dr. Hernandez’s children with the late Jose Maria “Dan” Hernandez, is John, who is still with the military, as an Army sergeant. John has taken a couple of tour of assignments in Afghanistan.

John’s younger brother, Herbert, who was also a US Army specialist from Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado, left the military service and relocated in Hawaii to pursue a civilian vocation.

Dr. Hernandez also paid tribute to her clients, who are still calling for her services. One of them, Ms. Barbara H. Herlein, her client since 1975 when “we were still brunette,” is still her repeat loyal client to this day, although she is only making house calls in her semi-retirement.

EMPATHY TO PETS

S he said her other clients, Mr. & Mrs. Celso and Linda Aurelia, Ms. Ligaya Reyes, Mr. & Mrs. Herry Arroyo, and Aida Davila “more than ever have demonstrated their strong bond with their pets. They go to great lengths to shower their pets with empathy, compassion, friendship, patience.”

Among her guests was Dr. Pilar Pascual Cenir, also her classmate in the college of veterinary medicine at the University of the Philippines. She said she has known “her for more than 50 years.” Dr. Cenir is the wife of Filipino community leader, Boni Cenir.

Most of her guests were parishioners and members of the Filipinos of St. Gregory the Great Parish, where she is a board member, and five of her eight children – Larry (Melit), Helen, George (Julia), Neil (Jocelyn) and Joseph (Sheila Marie) –  and her grandchildren, her brothers, Joseph (Josie) and Ray (Angie), relatives and friends.

Rev. Paul Wachdorf, pastor of St. Gregory the Great Parish, opened the celebration with an invocation. It was followed by a dinner, testimonials of her family and friends, among them Mesdames Gina Ybardaloza and Susan Silvano, her fellow officers at the Filipinos of St. Gregory.

She Hails from Pilar, Sorsogon

A native of Pilar, Sorsogon in the Philippines, Dr. Hernandez immigrated to the U.S. in the sixties. She was one of the seven children of the late agriculture teacher Jose L. Lariosa of Sorsogon, Sorsogon, and homemaker, Consolacion G. Garra, of Matnog, Sorsogon.

She opened her veterinary practice in Chicago and has since been a proud member of the American Veterinary Medical Association for 35 years and of the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association for 34 years. # # #

Editor’s Note: To contact the author, please e-mail him at:  (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)