Nicanor F. Mendoza

11 January 1923 – 25 December 2014

Nicanor Flores Mendoza was born in the Luacan, Bataan province of the Philippines on January 11th, 1923. He was born to his father, Domingo, and mother, Maria, who passed away in 1940 and 1938, respectively. Nicanor was the oldest of 5 children, and had 4 sisters, Zenaida Manalang, Tale Mariano, Ligaya Mendoza and Lourdes Geronimo. Since his parents passed away when he was so young, Nicanor took care of his sisters by working in his uncle’s farm. He joined the Philippine/US guerrilla force at the start of World War II in 1941. Unfortunately, he was captured by the Japanese and worked as a stable hand taking care of horses for the Japanese Army. In April 1942, Nicanor became one of the surviving heroes of the Bataan Death March that involved nearly 80,000 prisoners being forced to march from Mariveles Bataan to Capas Tarlac at Camp O’Donnell. The Bataan Death March was so aptly named because it was an excruciating journey, on foot, of almost 60 miles, and by the time the prisoners arrived in Capas Tarlac, an estimated 10,000 prisoners died from the torture and abuse.

After the war’s end in 1945, Nicanor was released from military service and moved to Olongapo City. He started working for the US Federal Service at the U.S. Ship Repair Facility (SRF), Shop 70 as a painter technician. It was around this time that he met the love of his life, Dolores Geronimo. They were married on November 23rd, 1946. They had 8 children, Violeta (passed away in 1948), Rolando, Erlinda, Alex (passed away January 2001), Nicanor, Jr., Ismael (Sammy), Joseph and Salvador (Bhoyet). He is also survived by 21 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. His employment with Subic Naval Base SRF lasted for over 30 years, and he retired in 1975.

After Nicanor retired that year, he continued volunteer work with the Barangay Security Force of his local community in Olongapo City Philippines where he was in charge of ensuring that health and security was maintained properly.

Nicanor migrated to Milpitas, California in February 1982, and he worked as a handyman for an apartment complex. In 1988, he had a surgical procedure performed on his brain which incapacitated his overall memory; except for his favorite hobby, the game of Mahjong. Due to the complications of this surgery, he was required not to work, but he was well known for sweeping the sidewalk and yard of their residence as well as that of his neighbors. This made Nicanor a neighborhood favorite.

Even with his loss of memory, Nicanor was always a loving Husband, Father, Grandfather and Great-grandfather. He travelled the world over from Europe to Japan, and he lived a full and glorious life. Nicanor was a man of tremendous dignity and honesty. We will always love him and miss his war stories and wisdom.