Corazon P. Ronan

Corazon Panopio Ronan Obituary

Corazon Bautista Panopio was born in the Philippines on February 9, 1945. She was the youngest of 3 siblings, born to Benito Hernandez Panopio and Teofila Bautista. They lived at 213 Panghulo Road, Malabon City, across the street from the Silver Swan Manufacturing Company. She was very close to her parents. She would help them with the daily chores, starting at 5 a.m., to milk the cows before going to school. Her trademark long hair down to her ankles was always on display in the neighborhood, per her Ate Auring and Kuya Eddie.  Her Kuya Eddie was a fan of the hairstyle and suggested it to her.

As a young girl, Cora knew she wanted to be a nurse. Her dream was to leave the Philippines for “The Land of Opportunity”, the United States, with goals of a better life and a college education for her future family. In 1966, she graduated from Manila Central University (MCU) EDSA Caloocan City, College of Nursing, with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Nursing (BSN). Also, during this time, the United States was offering an Exchange Visitor Nurse Program. Sure enough, her application for the program was accepted. Although Cora knew all her hard work was paying off, she also understood she’d be sorely missed by her parents, especially her mom. Lola Teofila preferred her to stay, but Cora knew she had to chase her dream.

The nurse exchange program was Cora’s huge adventure and exploration of the United States, landing her in Alabama and Illinois. Lifelong friendships were solidified with this experience which included most of her MCU classmates – Elvie, Patricia “Peachy”, and Maura, just to name a few.

A few years after completing her first contract with the nurse exchange program, Cora met Vicente “Vic” Ronan, a Biology Teacher, new Law graduate, and active APO member, from Oas Albay, Bicol, in 1972. Cora had many suitors, but Vic was the most consistent. He would visit her every Saturday at 2 PM, and stay the whole day whether or not she was there, leaving little to no chance for anyone else. Cora said Vic was smart in courting her. Vic’s charisma and charm won her over officially when they married on September 18, 1973, in Caloocan.

After the wedding, Cora continued participating in the US Exchange Visitor Nurse Program. She continued to travel and explore the U.S., discovering her favorite location to be Northern California. Vic reunited with Cora in 1974, in San Francisco. By coincidence, Vic’s identical twin brother, Tony Ronan, and his wife, Linda Ronan, were already settled and living in Daly City, California.

In 1976, her first son, Gerald, was born. For a short period Cora, Vic, Gerald, Uncle Tony, Auntie Linda, and Mark (Tony/Linda’s first born) lived together in a house at Westlake, Daly City up until they were able to get an apartment of their own – also at Westlake, across the street from Safeway. Cora was working at St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco, off Valencia and Cesar Chavez St. (Army St.), which is now California Pacific Medical Center Mission, Bernal Campus. She had good seniority and enjoyed her time there.

In 1980, Cora and Vic had saved enough money to purchase their house at 21 Montrose Ave., Daly City. A year later, Vince was born in 1981.  Cora made sure to reduce her work hours, now that her family had grown to four. With Vic’s advice, Cora moved from St. Lukes Hospital to Kaiser Permanente in South San Francisco. She hesitated with this idea at first, because it saddened her to know she would have to rebuild her seniority.  Eventually, it all worked out.  She    began in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and eventually made her way to the Hospital Ambulatory Services/Post Ambulatory Care Unit (HAS/PACU).

In 2012, Cora became a grandmother when Vinny was born. She finally retired in 2015, after 33 years of service at Kaiser South San Francisco.  In 2016, she was blessed with another grandson, Gerald Jr. (Jun Jun). She’d be blessed with 2 more grandsons in 2021 and 2024, Nathan and Andre.

Cora really loved and missed her family in the Philippines. Like most Filipino immigrants, she helped her family back home however she could. She and Vic supported as many relatives as they could with their education. They also sponsored annual holiday meals during the winter holidays in Oasnon, Albay. She also made sure to share and send Balikbayan Boxes with clothes, food, school supplies, and toys. And when Cora would travel back home to visit, she made sure she came “loaded”.

In her early family years Cora enjoyed taking care of her 2 sons and gardening.  She LOVED spending time in the backyard, especially attending to her rose bushes and potted orchids. Like all moms, she juggled with Gerald and Vince’s school, sporting and martial arts activities. Also in her spare time, Cora would join Vic in various meetings and events with their family and friends of their social groups: Oasnon USA of Northern CA, Alpha Phi Omega Alumni  Association, parents at Ralph Castro’s Shaolin Kenpo Karate School, and the Obandenian Association of NorCal. Because Cora and Vic did not have many blood relatives in the U.S., these social groups also became our family, and again, created more life long friendships.

In her retirement years, Cora continued an active lifestyle of walking and exercise with dad at Lake Merced and Ocean Beach, and the treadmill and exercise bike at the Karate school.  She was always Vic’s taste tester for all the various recipes and dishes he would experiment with and cook through the years.  one of her favorites was Laing.  She took a few more trips to  reunite with her MCU classmates and visit family in the Philippines, feeding her continued love of exploration and travel. And most recently, mom was  presented with an Honorary Black Belt by her husband Vic (6^th Degree) and sons Gerald (9^th Degree) and Vince (8^th Degree), Black Belts.

Corazon is survived by her husband, Vicente Ronan, her two sons, Gerald and his wife Hazel and Vince and his wife Jocylynne, along with her four grandsons, Vinny, Gerald Jr. (Jun Jun), Nathan, and Andre.

 “Authored by the Ronan family”