Juliana Poyaoan Valdez

Juliana Poyaoan Valdez, also known as “Mommy,” was born on January 28th, 1929 in San Carlos Pangasinan, Philippines. She was one of seven children, second to the youngest child. She attended high school at Manila High.
Introduced by family friends, Mommy met the love of her life, Hilarion D. Valdez. Together, they embarked on a journey together creating a family of their own. She gave birth to four children, Arturo, Belinda, Consuelo, and Hilario. She lived a wonderful life doing what she loved best and that was taking care of her family. Mommy was a homemaker and enjoyed numerous hobbies such as making dresses, cooking, baking, and gardening. Mommy could really bring life back to wilted plants with her green thumb, just as she was able to light up the room with her smile. Each of her home made meals always contained the perfect amount of ingredients. You could smell her cooking from a mile away. Baking was also a major hobby of hers, as she baked tons of batches of pandesal and ensaymada for her friends and family. These were just a few of the many things she was great at.
At the age of 46, Mommy was widowed and began the next chapter of her life in the United States, where she was petitioned by her second oldest child, Belinda. There, she would assist her daughter Belinda in taking care of her four children in Port Orchard, Washington. As her grandchildren reached adulthood and started families of their own, Mommy at the age of 70, continued to extend her love and kindness by assisting in the care of her great grandchildren. In addition, she continued to do the things she loved, and her ultimate goal when coming to the United States was to reunite with her four children. After 18 long years of filing numerous documents and corresponding back and forth to the Philippines, she finally accomplished her goal. As a loving mother, she was once again reunited with all of her four children in the state of Washington.
Not only did Mommy provide unconditional love for her own children, she was also a devoted grandmother and great grandmother as well. Her compassionate and loving heart was one in a million and each moment with her was surely cherished.
In October of 2013, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. At that time, findings showed that she was given only 6 months to live. Throughout this battle, she fought with every cell in her body and had unimaginable strength that allowed her to continue to live her life to the fullest. This battle with cancer did not stop her from experiencing the simple pleasures in life of eating her favorite foods and taking mini field trips to the casino to play her favorite slot machines like the “Jade Monkey.”
Mommy continued to fight to the end with an extreme high pain tolerance until her body could take no more. On the evening of March 8th, her children, grandchildren, their spouses, and great grandchildren surrounded her with love for a final communion blessed by Father Dennis Sevilla. Determined, she gathered her remaining strength to sit up, gaze around the room, and state, “Thank you everybody for everything. I love you all.” After being assisted back into bed, there she rested in her room with all of her favorite things, covered in her favorite blanket until she took her last breath the morning of March 12th at 6:31 AM. God gained another angel in heaven … a very, very special angel. Mommy, you will be greatly missed and never forgotten. You will live forever in our hearts.
She is preceded in death by her husband Hilarion Valdez and is survived by her Children: Arturo Valdez (son), Belinda (daughter) & Maximino Duque (son-in-law), Consuelo (daughter) & Ricardo Mendoza (son-in-law), Hilario (son) & Corazon Valdez (daughter-in-law); Grandchildren: Maximino Jr. & Arlene Duque, Neil & Rebecca Duque, Oliver & Ruth Duque, Melissa & Leo Fermin II, Romina & Florante Halili, Ralph Christian Mendoza, Angela & Edgardo Pascual, Hilario Jr. & Mary Grace Valdez, John Day Valdez; Great Grandchildren: Maille Duque, Maegan Duque, Neylyn Duque, Zhian Faith Duque, Leah Duque, Lanah Duque, Larah Duque, Leo Fermin III, Jacob Halili, Elijah Halili, John Timothy Valdez, John Rae Valdez, Kris Erica Pascual, Beatrice Sophia Pascual, and Nathaniel Pascual.