Rolando dela Cruz

At 3:20 AM EST, on Thursday, January 27th, 2022, Rolando "Rolly" B. dela Cruz, beloved husband and father of three children, passed away at the age of 68, after an up-and-down, 22 days-long battle in the I.C.U., against a severe case of COVID-19 (with no prior health conditions).

Rolly was born to the late Candido dela Cruz (a Farmer) and Juana Barrientos (a Vendor), on October 11.

He grew up helping his dad in Cavité, Philippines, until he moved to Baésa, Calóócan City, Metro Manila, Philippines, where he met his then-future wife, Mercy Lynn.

He worked as a (Page) Cutter and Book Bindery Operator, in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church's Philippine Publishing House [P.P.H.] for ~16 years, before immigrating to the United States in 1995 with his children; to join his wife, who had already been working in the U.S. for six months, at the original location of what would be his then-future place of employment - the then-Potomac A.B.C.

Because of Rolly's love for God, he was always glad to help and serve at the churches he was a member of - both at Baésa Seventh-Day Adventist Church (in the Philippines) and then the Filipino-American Capital Seventh-Day Adventist Church (then-Filipino Capitol Seventh-Day Adventist Church, in the U.S.),

whether as a Deacon, an Audio-Visual Technician, and/or as the Church Custodian (at F.A.C.S.D.A.C., specifically); as family, or friend.

Rolly had also worked unrelentingly hard and always with a smile, at every job he's worked for - P.P.H., Aramark (for ~3 years), then finally, Potomac A.B.C. (which has been rebranded as LivingWell), for over 20 years, primarily as the Food Dept. Buyer (among other positions), in order to provide for his family.

He has touched many lives, at work (both co-workers and customers), in church, his family, relatives, and the communities he's been part of.Rolly was a dedicated, diligent, faithful, helpful, humble, imperturbable, lovingly generous, low-profile, loyal, reticent-but-cheerful, selfless, simplistic, strong, thoughtful, wise, and all-around wonderful person, whether it was towards his wife, children, grandchildren, relatives, friends, co-workers, customers, or acquaintances.

Rolly is survived by his wife of 42 years - Mercy Lynn; sons - Romer Errol and Romney Evans; daughter - Romelynn Gay (and son-in-law - Aldric) Santos; two [2] grandchildren, grandson - Raven Seth, and granddaughter - Zeralynn Skye; his seven [7] remaining siblings - Herminia, Rodrigo, Leticia, Benjamin, Jesse, Osias, and Teofilo; his siblings' spouses; and numerous nephews, nieces, grand-nephews, and grand-nieces.

The public Viewing will be held at 10:30 AM EST (11:30 PM Philippine Time), with the Funeral Service to follow at 11:30 AM EST (12:30 AM Philippine Time, Monday), on Sunday, February 6th, 2022, at the Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, on 11800 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20904; and the Burial/Interment will be held at 1 PM EST (2 AM Philippine Time, Monday), at the George Washington Cemetery, on 9500 Riggs Road, Adelphi, MD 20783. Directly after the Interment, the Repast will be located at the Filipino-American Capital Seventh-Day Adventist Church, on 4216 Powder Mill Road, Beltsville, MD 20705, where boxed lunches will be distributed for curbside pickup (adhering to COVID-19 protocols).

Special Thanks to our Funeral Director, Sydnie Sparzak, and the staff of Hines-Rinaldi, for their accommodations; to Carole Marzouk at George Washington Cemetery, for her assistance; to Uncle Fred and Kuya Eric Castro for helping us in streaming this event.

Links to view the livestream of the service and burial:

YouTube:

https://youtu.be/iakgT_uTMNA

Facebook:

https://m.facebook.com/events/332960338748486/