Maria Dioscoro S Estillore's Obituary
MA. DIOSCORO SARABIA ESTILLORE: Truly a loving mother, a loyal wife and a dear friend.
Mama Coring, as she is dearly known to her only daughter Nimfa Estillore Tintiangco, epitomized the ideals of a truly loving mother. She was a representation of the innate nature of how a mother should act her role in this world. Her life-long career as a teacher had touched countless loves but no one is more moved by her goodness and influence than her very own family – her late husband and only daughter.
Born on December 14, 1927, in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines, she was the 6th in a brood of 8 children of the businessman-teacher couple, Hilarion Tanguenca Sarabia and Leona Pernia Acero. She spent her childhood years in the heart of Bohol’s capital; graduated elementary education from the former St. Joseph’s Academy, now Holy Spirit School of Tagbilaran (HSS-T). Diligent in her studies, she was an honor student when she finished her seventh grade and her high school education. Mama Coring earned her Bachelor of Science in Education at the then Rafael Palma College, now University of Bohol.
Ten years prior to her retirement as an elementary school teacher in 1985, she was promoted to become a Master Teacher, which was a shining testament of her hard work and dedication to her profession. All in all, she devoted 38 years of her life in teaching, having served in different school districts, including as treasurer and assistant school principal at Booy Elementary School in Tagbilaran City, during the entire span of her teaching career.
After leaving a solid and enduring legacy in molding the minds of the young and therefore, among the country’s silent modern-day heroes, Mama Coring moved to the United Stated in 1985 to join her daughter’s family in Hayward, California. Since then, she had been coming back and forth to the United States and the Philippines.
While she placed her professional life as a teacher to rest, her involvement in the community where she lived attested to her never-ending passion for service. She was assistant auditor of the Filipino Circle Club in Fremont, California (1993) and Public Relations Officer of the Tagbilaran Association of Northern California (TANOCAL) from 1993 to 2009. In recognition of Mama Coring’s public service, the association included her among the notable TANOCAL Awardees in 2001. The same association of Boholanos residing in that part of sunny California conferred on her a Plaque of Appreciation acknowledging her six years of service as PRO and for her outstanding service as auditor of the Filipino Circle Club.
Like her daughter Nimfa, Mama Coring is an awe-inspiring woman of substance who exuded beauty, in and out. Even during her college years, she was “a beauty to behold” at the then Rafael Palma College, now University of Bohol, where she garnered the First Runner-up Award in a beauty pageant in 1947. In 1948, during a Philippine Military Parade and Philippine Scouts and Philippine Army presentation, she was a stand-out sponsor. Her quiet beauty remains as one of her priceless assets even during her senior years. In the 1960s, she was invited as a Costume Model for a Girl Scout Fashion and the Girl Scout Anniversary Celebration.
Mama Coring’s beautiful face, heart and mind continued to radiate and shine in the United States. She was adjudged Queen of Hearts in 1996 by the International Society of San Francisco; Queenly Mother of the Year by the Philippine-American Seniors Association of West Bay area and Daly City in 1999; and Madam Sanctity by the Matron of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate (DMI) in 1992. In the same year, she was declared Miss Millennium Queen and Miss Philippines-USA during the Philippine Independence Day celebration.
Embedded in the veins of Mama Coring is her deep religious conviction as encapsulated in her decades of service being a member of the Legion of Mary and the daughters of Mary Immaculate in Tagbilaran City.
With the Blessed Mother Mary as her model of selfless devotion to humanity, she had actively shared her God-given talent in dancing, particularly on traditional Filipino folk dances. One could no longer count the number of times she wowed the crowd with her lovely rendition of traditional folk dances on top of her penchant for ballroom dancing.
As a choreographer or a performer, she had shared her talent for the glory of God and in the service of the Church. Her involvement in the said performances were aimed at raising funds for church projects. Mama Coring’s love, patience, understanding, and generosity overflowed beyond her family circle and immediate relatives. She taught folk dances not only to her family and friends but also to anyone interested to learn tradition Filipino dances. Her beloved daughter Nimfa recalls that her parents often danced together at certain events to raise funds for religious or civic organizations to help in their undertakings.
In the eyes of the people who know her up close and personal, Mama Coring possessed the genuine quality of a caring Boholano, a patriotic Filipina and most of all, a true loving mother to her daughter and a wife to her husband, Mauricio. On the 24th of April 2023, Mama Coring peacefully returned to the arms of the Almighty Creator.
She was honored to have celebrated her 95th birthday last December 14, 2022, with her family. Coring is survived by her only daughter Nimfa,
son-in-law Henry, grandson Jeffrey and her loving nieces and nephews.
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