Name: Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home & Cemetery
Address: Seattle, WA

Today, August 6, 2023, is the customary 40th day for Joe's prayer observance.  This post concludes this daily photo tribute.

It is summer.  This last picture was taken on December 22, 2006, in Holy Family Catholic Church, Kirkland, Washington, when he playfully became "Zante Claus" with the red cap.  He showed he was what Saint Thomas More was called:  A man for all seasons.  He is now always present regardless of season, weather, circumstance.  Amen.

We have all been on the receiving end of goodness.  Motso was on the giving end, or start, innumerable times.  In this September 9, 2011, pic, he awaits, with Pinky, etc., to serve as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion ("communion minister") during the Mass celebrated by healing priest Father Fernando Suarez in Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Seattle, Washington. He served more than goodness but greatness.  The Greatest.

Sky is the limit although, for Motso, the sea is the limit. Whatever the waters will yield during any particular trip. "Sea" includes rivers, bays, beaches, lakes.  Like Green Lake in Seattle here on May 17, 2020, when he shared the satisfaction of friends who hooked the limit of five trout in short order. 

We know about giving people a fish and, instead, teaching them to fish.  Motso gave fishes.  He taught fishing.  He cleaned the catch. He cooked them like what he was doing with the flounders in this July 17, 2021, picture on the rear deck of the house.  He served them.  He then joined all of us in eating.  He ensured extras for us to take home. Later, he was the one who haul out the garbage! 

Feel free to note that the countless fishes caught and shared by Joe were healthier.  But they were not the only ones. In this July 10, 2021, picture he plucked "alugbati" or Malabar spinach leaves, interspersed with kale and onions, from the front garden, that were later added to the soup served. Your meals were healthier because of him.  As well as your life.

It fitted like a glove that Joe, so steadfast in serving, had as his last BLD Community position with Pinky, headship of the Service ministry.  That section is under the Management apostolate and in this November 5, 2021, photo after installation, in Saint Edward Church, Seattle, they pose with that apostolate's chiefs and fellow coordinators of the Treasury, Secretariat, and Technical ministries and BLD-Seattle spiritual director Rev. Alex Pablo.

How did "Mr. Cool" Joe keep his coolness?  It was literal in this July 3, 2021, camera shot in Strita Kitchen, Marysville, Washington, as he and Pinky repelled the summer heat by splitting a halo-halo ("mix-mix"), crushed ice with fruit/veggie preserves, milk, and sugar. That was him.  He kept and shared being cool so those with him ended up being cool as well.

Joe on the back deck of the house enjoying his April 8, 2019, conversation with Saint Pius X Church pastor Father Cal Christiansen who came for a Life in the Spirit Seminar meeting. The lushness of typical Pacific Northwest vegetation behind the two gentlemen reminds those who see this pic that Faith shared prospers now and beyond.

There were times when the normally easygoing Joe can look and act tough.  In this July 18, 2015, photo during a friend's 60th birthday bash in Seatac, Washington, he was the macho dancer on the right in the rear row with a red ribbon.  When it came to fun, especially, for the sake of others' happiness, yes, he was "tough" and amassed his strengths for them.

Sea creatures are the only pleasures Joe did see and share.  In fitting red, green, and gold (course's crunchy skin is golden), he gladly accommodated members here already pinching off first dibs of the whole roasted pig or lechon before BLD's December 2, 2017, Christmas party.  Others would have insisted they wait or risk the chopping knife's blade. Saint Pius X gym, Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

The American folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary sang about having a hammer and using it.  Motso did, too.  Not all over this land but for and with folks in many places.  Like at oysters during this Lakebay, Belfair, Washington, trip. Note the jar to the right with his plump results. He did not keep it for himself but gladly shared it with his companions that day or April 1, 2022. He was a pearl of a man.

Motso is mucho in generosity whether the blessing comes from his hands' efforts in fishing, service, or garden.  He also took delight when others are blessed and shared the success.  Like the tomatoes in this August 21, 2021, picture taken in the back garden of his siblings-in-law in Everett, Washington.

No, Joe did not play the keyboard although he led three other members in this April 28, 2019, snapshot pretending to do so.  The piano just happened to be there during a singles encounter or retreat in Warm Beach Christian camp, Stanwood, Washington.  People still debate whether such is a string or percussive instrument. No debate the fun and laughter together made joyous melodies and memories.

The photo post preceding this had Joe with a choir.  He shared music not only with his mouth but also with his hands.  Here he plays a drum for the annual Ati-Atihan festival, a religious-themed festival familiar in the Philippines.  Locals honor the Christ Child with prayers and feasting. including street dancing.  This Saint Pius X Church, Mountlake Terrace, Washington, version took place on January 29, 2017.

Joe spread himself so he can give of himself much.  In music, too. He was a member of the SPX (Saint Pius X Church, Mountlake Terrace) choir that has earned laurels for its quality.  This pic was on November 3, 2019, during the Western Washington Catholic Charismatic Renewal conference on healing at Saint Thomas (the Apostle) Church in Tukwila, Washington.

Many have been blessed by Motso's fishes that were plucked fresh from the sea.  Or bays, lake, and rivers.  But the catch he shared also came from fields on land.  Like these fresh ears of sweet corn that he unhusked and boiled on the back deck of his siblings-in-law in Everett, Washington, on July 3, 2021.

They say you should not turn your back to the sea.  Motso would not because he fished so much.  Even if he turned sideways, like in this July 30, 2021, photo in Point No Point, Hansville, Washington, he remained certainly satisfied as he hooked and reeled in two flounders at the same time!

Being near the water did not automatically mean Motso was after fishes.  In this March 29, 2021, photo, he is shown leading pals after getting off a ferry at the Mukilteo, Washington, dock.  One of his companions, a Washingtonian for years, decades, had never experienced riding such a vessel. He, red jacket here, deferred to her and did not bring his fishing pole.  But all who were present received the memorable catch of spending hours of happiness together.

When the name "Jose", "Joe", or "Joseph" is mentioned, its ordinariness brings the comfort of its familiarity. But to say Motso was your average Joe is like dipping your fishing line into a fishless lake. He was extraordinary. In this December 4, 2004, camera shot, holding a heaping chest of gold, do not ask if he was Gaspar, Melchior, or Balthasar.  Joe was the king with a golden heart.

Joe set aside time to instruct his companions on the ways of fishing, etc.  But he did not merely "catch and release" or teach them and release totally them on their own.  He shared the joys of the activity as this photo of him showing the clams the excited beginner also dug up in Penrose Point State Park, Lakebay, on April 3, 2021.

Joe's spiritual leadership was as humble and real as it was practical and gentle.  In this July 23, 2021, picture, he was reading worship prayers. The COVID-19 pandemic was wildly swamping the world with its grayness but even that did not stop him from serving through Zoom or online like in this photo. 

Motso did not just go to a spot and fished.  He and Pinky generously shared his catch.  He taught others how to fish, too.  Why, in this May 22, 2021, photo, at the Mountlake Terrace, Washington, dwelling, he even gifted friends/fellow BLD faith community co-members with fishing poles!  

Fish, obviously Joe's favorite catch, is said to be food for the brain. But he was not only a Catholic in faith but catholic or universal when eating. No issue but delight in enjoying the head, including the brain, of a goat in this June 7, 2021, fishing-trip photo in Cornet Bay, Washington.

On August 8, 2021, we went to Lincoln Park in West Seattle.  It was wildly reported that salmon abounded that day so there was a very long line of fisherfolks on the shore.  But among our bunch, it was only Joe who hooked a salmon.

OBITUARY

Mr. Jose "Motso" Zante

September 10, 1953 – June 28, 2023

Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home & Cemetery

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