Mr Lawrence D Lavadia's Obituary
Lawrence Lavadia, AKA Florencio Lavadia Sr., 76, went home to be with the Lord on Oct. 19, 2016 in Fremont, CA due to heart failure.Lawrence, son of the late Elias Baiza Lavadia and Felipa Fontelera Dumlao Lavadia was born Sept 28, 1940 in Zambales, Phil. He was the second of eight children. His siblings are Shirley Pastrana, Rosita Payao, Felicidad Rabanera, Diosdado Lavadia, Teresita Arriola, Frank Lavadia and Ray Lavadia.Lawrence married Azucena ‘Zeny’ Antonio Mata on Nov 15, 1965. They have 5 children and 8 grandchildren. The children are Lorie Anne Prado, Jetfrey Lavadia, Joanne Suaverdez, Jerico and Florencio Lavadia Jr (Jun jun).Lawrence attended the public schools in Cavite City, Philippines and went to college at Lyceum College of the Philippines. He was a Life Insurance Agent in the Philippines and here in the US. He received the top producers awards and recognitions as a Life Insurance Agent. He was a Black Belt in Karate. He enjoyed cooking Filipino dishes. He owned many different classic cars and enjoyed working on them.Growing up, Lawrence was such a good, caring and responsible brother. While at the very young age, after school and weekend, he worked as a shoe-shine boy at the Navy base and sold flowers he picked from their backyard, just so he can help their parents provide for the family. As soon as he earned some money, he went to the market, bought groceries and cooked dinner. He was very resourceful and always thought of ways to earn money to help support his family and himself.To give his children a better future, Lawrence and Zeny made the ultimate sacrifice. He went to the United States in 1978 leaving his family behind. He lived with his older sister Shirley, Father Elias and Mother Felipa in the U.S. Lawrence and Zeny didn’t see each other for almost 13 yrs. not until in 1991. Lawrence has held many different odd jobs to support the family until he got settled and got his Life Insurance license.Lawrence was always the life of the party. Everyone loved him for his friendship, his great sense of humor and always telling jokes. He told the best jokes. As a matter of fact, he never ran out of jokes. Even the nurses at the dialysis center were always asked him to share jokes with them. He was a great cook and enjoyed cooking for his family and friends.One of notable accomplishment in his life is when he petitioned to join Masonry in early 70s and began his labors in this gentle Craft of Freemasonry by being initiated as an Entered Apprentice Mason, Passed to the degree of Fellowcraft Mason, and Raised to the Sublime degree of Master Mason in Bagong Buhay Lodge #17 located in Cavite City under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. Immediately after arriving here in the US, he decided to remain active in the fraternity and had joined Crocker Lodge #212 in Daly City, CA by affiliation. His love of Masonry and the principles and great tenets of the Craft, had remained with him until he starts having health problems.Lawrence had many health issues as he aged. He had kidney failure, glaucoma and diabetes. He was on dialysis for almost 14 yrs. He was a fighter and survived many surgeries, silent seizures and strokes. Both his legs were amputated. He was in and out of the hospital in the last 4 months. His devoted wife Zeny never left his side and took care of him all those years. On Wednesday Oct. 19, he finally went to be with the Lord due to heart failure during dialysis.The memories of him will always be in the hearts of his family, relatives, friends, and all those who met him whose life he touched.The Memorial and Funeral Service to celebrate the life of Lawrence Lavadia will be at The Chapel of Chimes at 32992 Mission Blvd, Hayward CA 94544 on Nov 11th and 12th. The visitation on Friday, Nov 11th is from 12pm to 9pm with Memorial Service at 7pm. There will be a short visitation on Saturday, Nov 12th from 10am to 1:30pm and a Funeral Service from 1:30pm to 2:00 pm followed by the Cremation at 2:15 pm.To those who cannot make it but wished to express sympathy or send a token of love and thoughts, please send it to Zeny Lavadia at 34822 Warwick Court, Fremont CA 94555.
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