Michael V. Espiritu

(“Thank you, my beloved/ if you would find value in these the fruits of my labors…”)

Michael (aka, Miguel and Mike) Espiritu y Villavicencio left this earth in the early morning of January 18, 2019. He was surrounded by all of his loved ones. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Concepcion (Connie) Fauni Espiritu, and his children Cesar, Julie, Annie, Liza, and Augusto, grandchildren Melanie (and husband, Dave), Justin (and wife, Mary), R.J., Iris, Alyssa, and Jenevieve, and great grandchildren Lani, Tyler, Kyle, and Makiah, as well as by his in-laws Theresita, Constante, Rommy, Gene, and Anna, and his extended family from Inglewood. He had been battling renal failure, a complication of diabetes. He was 90 years old.

Michael was born on May 21, 1928 in the city of Jaen, Nueva Ecija Province, Philippines, the son of farmer Gregorio Salonga Espiritu and Epifania Villavicencio. He was devoted to his siblings Simon, Gelacio, Cornelio, Gregorio, Januario, Roman, Librado, Andrea, and Melencio, as well as his relatives from his mother’s family, the Villavicencios. He studied in the provincial high school at Cabanatuan, attended the Far Eastern University in Sampaloc, Manila, where he completed a B.S. in economics. He subsequently worked for the Central Bank of the Philippines for a quarter of a century, making close friendships there, before emigrating to the United States with his family in April of 1975. His four-month journey to Mexico and the United States under the auspices of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (SEMLA, for its acronym in Spanish) was a turning point, leading to lifelong friendships with colleagues in Mexico, Chile, and Australia.

In the United States, he lived with his family for a long time in Inglewood before moving to his permanent home in Laguna Niguel, California. He held a number of positions, including accountant for Daniel Freeman Hospital, administrator of student loans for Compton College, and auditor for the Department of Defense. Michael retired in January of 1990. Afterwards, he worked part-time demonstrating new products and doing some translation work in Tagalog. He became a U.S. citizen in 1981.

In retirement, Michael’s passion was hitting the tennis courts with friends and family and exercising outdoors walking, jogging, or biking. Besides being trilingual in English, Filipino, and Spanish, Michael spoke French and Italian and was familiar with Japanese and German, and he also knew sign language. He had a deep knowledge of Filipino literature, and especially loved Florante at Laura and the pasyon, which he chanted. He traveled to the Philippines whenever he could. In his later days, he loved spending time with his wife, children, and grandchildren and doing gardening with Connie.