Miguela O. Enriquez

Miguela Ople Enriquez was born on May 12, 1929 in San Miguel, Hogonoy, Bulacan to Sibero Ople and Andilicia Lopez. She was the youngest of four siblings: Tirso, Paula and another brother who died at an early age. She was an obedient daughter who listened to her parents, went to school and prayed often. It was her strong faith in the Lord that inspired dreams of being a nun. Miguela completed her education in the 4th grade which was common for time. At the age of 15, she met Maximo Salazar Enriquez. Although he was ten years her senior, it was “love at first sight” for him and after courting his family and gaining their blessing- they married in 1945. She was a loving and devoted mother to Catalina, Ponciano, Rosalinda, Leticia, Romeo, Angelito, Federico and Imelda. Grandmother to Ador, Catherine, Cristina, Alan Jay, Arnie Boy, Maria Karren, Jennifer, Annalyn, Anthony, Jane, Sherwin, Annaleah, Krystle and Joseph and Great-Grandmother to Katrina, Carolina, Ryan Jay, Joshua, Daniel, Kai, Kyler, Maella, Jazmin, Gabriel, Michael James, and Isaiah.

Not only was Miguela a domesticated home maker, she utilized her natural gift for being business savvy to financially provide for large family. She used her seamstress talents to sew shorts and pajamas to be sold at the local marketplace, raised pigs and ironed clothes for profit, rented housing to students from the province, owned two jeepneys for transportation services and invested in land.

Her oldest son Ponciano came to the United States in the late 60’s and initiated the progressive migration of the Enriquez family across the ocean. Miguela was petitioned in 1975. Being the hardworker she was, Miguela took jobs as a lumpia maker, babysitting the children of friends and family and sewing clothes for Montalbo’s- a local Filipino-owned clothing line.

Her first exposure to the hospital setting came when she was a janitor at Sharp Knollwood. Her supervisor, Cheryl, saw promising potential in Miguela and encouraged her to become a CNA. Her initial reaction was hesitant, since she had only completed the 4th grade, but it was her perseverance, faith in the Lord and help from her children motivated her to pass her CNA boards- one of her proudest moment. This new achievement pushed her to work even harder than she ever had, regularly working 8 hour shifts at two different hospitals. Miguela worked as a CNA for 30 years, retired in 2000 at the age of 71 and devoted the rest of her life to prayer and family – the two most important things in her life. Although much of her life was spent working, she took time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

She loved to go to church, clean, take walks, tell stories, visit with friends and family and eat out. Her favorite restaurants included PF Changs, Cheesecake Factory, California Burrito and never passed up a chance to have Karen Krasne’s Extraordinary Desserts. Miguela loved to watch TV. Her favorite shows were The Price Is Right, The Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and soap operas on TFC (The Filipino Chanel).

Inang, as we lovingly called her, was the strong matriarch of our family. She was a disciplinarian with concrete, faith-based morals. She taught us how to pray with meaning and to endlessly praise God. It was her limitless love for her family that fueled her to work tirelessly in order to provide a better life for her children and their families. Without Inang, we would not be here. She was the glue that believed that ‘a family that prays together, stays together.’ Inang will always be remembered by her sweet gestures. She always anticipated the needs of others like offering food when you walked into her home or to say a prayer for family and friends- sometimes even complete strangers. She had a soft spoken and comforting demeanor, but a commanding presence that was wise and profound.

She was an obedient daughter, devoted wife, loving mother, generous friend and faithful servant to the Lord. It was no wonder Heaven welcomed its newest angel when the Lord called her home on the afternoon of January 18, 2013 due to complications of pneumonia. Although our hearts break from missing our sweet Inang, the Lord wanted Inang to rest her earthly body to serve a greater purpose in His Heavenly kingdom to pray and prepare the home for the family and friends she loved and cared so deeply for.