de GUZMAN, Amada - Our beloved Mom, Lola, great-grandma, sister, Ninang, aunt, and friend, Amada de Guzman passed away peacefully on January 13, 2021 at the age of 98 years.
She will be lovingly remembered by her only son Renato (Aida), her four grandchildren: Janet (John), Dino (Cathy), Raymond (Robin), and Josephine (Stefano), cherished great-grandchildren, Nicholas, Adam, and Eric, her brother Macrino (Rose),her sister-in-law Delfina Vargas, as well as numerous relatives and friends.
She was predeceased by her loving husband of only 2 years, Victor and her siblings Virginia McCaffrey (Charles), Vicente Vargas, Epifanio Vargas (Betty) and Rufino Vargas (Ellie).
She will also be dearly missed by her community at the Extendicare Brampton Nursing Home who were her second family for the past five and half years.
Amada was born on March 21st, 1922 in Manila, Philippines to parents Victor and Antonina. When she was only 19 years old her young husband died in WWII in the death march, leaving her a single mom to one-year old Renato. Less than two years later Amada’s 42-year old mother passed away from the stress of the war. From that point on as the oldest sibling, Amada assumed the role of primary caregiver to her four brothers and sister, ranging in age from 5 to 16 years, in addition to her own son. Amada never remarried, making her a war widow of almost 80 years.
To support her family Amada worked for the US Army as a claims processor and later at IBM as a data verifier. In 1971 her son, his wife, and their two toddlers emigrated to Canada to build a new life in a new country (they had two more children in Canada). Amada left her home in the Philippines to join her family in Toronto six months later, where she spent many years helping to raise her four grandchildren, each of whom were great joys to her.
Amada enjoyed traveling having taken memorable trips to Europe and the USA, including several trips to visit her many nieces and nephews in California, USA.
One of Amada’s greatest legacies is as co-founder of the Brampton Filipino Seniors Club (BFSC). In April 1987 she with three friends from Brampton decided to form a social club for Filipino seniors. In her words, they “envisioned a place to go on weekends, where we would meet other seniors for fellowship, unity, share experiences, plan short trips here and there, and most of all, have a place where we could enjoy the company of our peers, and get a well-deserved break from day-to-day family duties.” In their first year they had 30 members, and today there is well over 100.
One of the great accomplishments of the Club was the Yearbook 2000 Project which aimed to entrench, support, and promote a unified and respected Filipino-Canadian community that is dedicated to a safe and prosperous city of Brampton. In its 34 years, the BFSC served the Brampton community in many ways including making a very generous annual donation to the Peel Memorial Hospital (later the Brampton Civic Hospital) and many other charities. Upon retiring from the Club, Amada was presented with the honour of Officer Emeritus from the organization she helped to build.
Amada touched so many lives and affected so many people. Those who knew her knew someone who was kind, generous, forgiving, patient, and simply, just good. She will be greatly missed.
Arrangements entrusted with Ward funeral home, BRAMPTON chapel. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, January 19th at 11:00 a.m.
Respecting the current situation and pandemic restrictions, the funeral service and interment will be private.
The family has provided the opportunity to view the service via livestream from the comfort of your own home. Please visit the funeral home website, click on Amada's memorial page, then click "Photos and Videos" for the link under webcast at time of service. On mobile devices and tablets the webcast link will be available by scrolling to the bottom of the page. This link will become available at the time of the service.
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