Ethelyn Eala Barcelona

Birth date: Nov 26, 1944 Death date: Oct 25, 2021

Ethelyn Eala Barcelona, 76, of Honolulu, Hawaii passed away on Monday, October 25, 2021, surrounded by her loving family. Ethel known to family and friends was born on November 26, 1944 in San Esteban, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. Sh Read Obituary

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Valentino & Manuela Ramirez

201w ago

Hello, this is Uncle Val and Auntie Lily from California. Uncle Val’s mom is Nemesia Ramirez who was both an aunt and a cousin to Auntie Iling. Mama Nemesia always stayed with Auntie Iling and Manang Ethel whenever she visited Hawaii.

When mama Nemesia passed away, Val reconnected with Manang Ethel. So every time we vacationed in Hawaii, we made it a point to visit Manang Ethel. She was the only relative we knew there. In 2017, we purchased a condo in Makaha Beach Cabanas in Waianae. We started going to Hawaii once or twice a year and would always get in touch with Manang Ethel. Manang Ethel told us about another cousin, Bon Esperanza. Val called him and he and Bon became golfing buddies

This year, we stayed at the condo from mid-August through September 13. We had long chats with Manang Ethel and one day we took her to a seafood restaurant. We had fun catching up post- Covid-19. She told us that she was enjoying the lunch because seafood was one of her favorites as well as being with relatives. When we got home in California, our persimmon tree was bursting with fruit. So, we mailed a box of the fruit to Bon and another one to Manang Ethel. Did it arrive for Manang Ethel to taste our persimmon?

Manang Ethel was a wonderful person and we are really saddened by her passing when we were just beginning to bond. We hope that we can meet you next time we are in Hawaii. Keep in touch and be safe.

Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary At Valley Of The Temples

202w ago

Created a new album - Memories Album.

Gaelynn Samonte

203w ago

Created a new album - Mom's slideshows at her services on 11/11/21 and 11/13/21.

Kelsie Eala (Dad's Email)

203w ago

Shared Memory by Ethel’s niece, Kelsie Eala, at the Funeral Service on 11/11/2021

Hi, my name is Kelsie Eala and I am the younger niece of my Aunty, Ethel Barcelona. I lived with my Aunty for half my life and within those years I shared some memorable moments with her. My Aunty was one of the people that would watch over me when my parents were at work, especially during the summers. Whenever I think of those summers, my mind always goes back to when my Aunty would gather my cousins and I in my Grandma E’s room, and play music for us all to dance to. Some dances we would do were the macarena, the chicken dance, freeze dance, and even the sprinkler. My Aunty would always find ways for us to move around and would even get our summer brains working by reading a book, even though we would always end up falling asleep while reading. She would also let us hang out in her room, and we would play cards or sometimes secretly jump on her bed to try and touch the ceiling fan, which probably was not the best idea and not the most secretive. Every time we did this, we knocked her magazines off the end of the bed and would quickly try to put them back before she came in and noticed. She probably knew though, but never told us anything. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure she actually gave us permission to jump on her bed, but she never scolded us for it.
We all knew her most for her delicious cooking like her lumpia, spaghetti, pancit, chicken marungay, and one of my favorites, her homemade pumpkin pie which was always better than Costco’s. I would be happy to eat anything she made because I knew it would be so good. She had always encouraged me to try other foods I would never think to try, like fish, which would always have a strong smell, that made me not want to eat it, but with aunty’s encouragement I would try it and it would taste so good. When we had lived with her before, I would always be looking forward to dinner because I knew it was going to be delicious. Something I also enjoyed about dinner time were the old shows aunty would have on TV, like the andy griffith show, golden girls, gilligan’s island, and m.a.s.h., which I always enjoyed watching them with her. I’ll miss these moments but will always cherish these memories with my aunty.

On behalf of all of us grandchildren and nieces, thank you all for coming to help us celebrate the life of our Grandma & Aunty, Ethel Barcelona. May you all continue to keep her memory alive by sharing your stories of her with others. We love you aunty, and we will always remember you.

Ashley Eala (Dad's Email)

203w ago

Shared Memory by Ethel’s niece, Ashley Eala, at the Funeral Service on 11/11/2021

Hi, my name is Ashley Eala, and I am Aunty Ethel’s older niece. I have a lot of memories with my favorite aunty. I mean, she was my only aunty, but she will forever be my favorite. Aunty was a very giving person who made everyone feel welcome and loved. She did so much for me growing up, especially when I lived with her for about 9 years. She helped me with school projects, like making a pineapple macadamia nut cake for a home ec class and telling me about coming to America from the Philippines with Grandma E for a history class project. Aunty also cooked many meals for us, and one of my favorite dishes was her spaghetti. She made it for many of my birthdays, and just this past summer when I was about to go back up to college, she made it for our family get-together. I remember her also learning how to make one of my favorite dishes from the Old Spaghetti Factory, mizithra cheese and browned butter, so that I could eat it while they were closed.
Some of my favorite memories with Aunty include playing Boggle and decorating the house for the holiday season, especially my piano with her Santa figurines and elves. She would also support me and my sister at our many dance recitals, giving us big hugs afterward and telling us how much she liked the performance. She captured countless moments in our lives that I probably would not have remembered very well without her photos, and over the past few days I’ve smiled every time I look at them as I remember Aunty smiling while she held her phone up to take the picture and told us, “Smile!”
The last conversation I had with Aunty was about my Filipino club in college. I was on facetime with her and mentioned how I am the chair for our annual cultural night and about some of the dances we will be performing. I mentioned Sayaw sa Bangko, which is a partner dance on benches that you stack throughout the dance. Aunty didn’t know the dance, so she looked up a video on YouTube. I watched her reaction go from smiling to “what is happening?!” as she told me to be careful, which I like to think she said because I’m clumsy. I told my mom afterward that I wanted to invite Aunty to the cultural night, and although she can no longer physically be there, I know she will be there with me in spirit.
Thank you, aunty, for everything you did for me and all of us. I love and miss you so much.

Kayli Shae Samonte (Mom's Email)

203w ago

Shared Memory by Ethel’s one and only granddaughter, Kayli Shae Samonte, at the Funeral Service on 11/11/2021

Hi, my name is Kayli Shae. I’m the favorite and only granddaughter to my grandma Ethel. I’m very grateful to have my grandma supporting me and caring for me on my every move. Before we moved to the house we’re living in now, I would always visit grandma after school and hang out with her. We'd always be doing some weird and funky dances and have mini picnics at the dining table with random snacks weʻd find in the pantry. Whenever I stayed late at her house, I always remember her watching Gilligan’s Island on the old gray box t.v. in the living room. For the summers, all the cousins would go to her house to hang out. Sheʻd make our favorite breakfasts like Pancakes, French Toast, and sometimes she’d just heat up the Pillsbury crescent rolls, and still made it taste WAY better than it typically would.
These past two years went by so quickly while we lived with her. Instead of only being able to eat her food when we visited her, we got to enjoy the meals she made everyday. During dinner, grandma and I would take turns making satisfying noises with our food. Sometimes, grandma would show me videos of recipe tutorials and we would plan to make them. We’ve already found a recipe in one of her magazines that we were planning to make for Christmas!
One of my favorite memories with grandma was when we experienced an earthquake in Japan. In 2016, we took a family vacation to Japan during Christmas time. I believe it was like our fourth night there and we were settling down to go to sleep. With my mom and I on one bed and grandma on the other, we saw the dresser across from us start to move. Mom yelled, “GET UNDER THE DOOR” as she pointed to the bathroom door in our hotel room. Following her commands, I jumped off the bed and quickly ran towards the door to where she was now at. On the other hand, grandma was still on her bed as she played her round of Candy Crush. “HURRY UP” and “GET UNDER THE DOOR” were what mom and I were yelling at grandma as the earthquake was happening. For the response back we got a, “Okay hold on, I’m playing my game.” As frantic as mom and I were, grandma remained calm and enjoyed her round of Candy Crush. Whenever we bring this up, it never fails to make us laugh. My grandma was always there for my family and I, as she always put others before herself. She was one of the happiest people I’ve ever known. Something I will never forget about grandma was her pure smile and the sound of her laugh. Which was one of the most often sounds I’d hear come out of grandma. My grandma Ethel was definitely one of the most supportive and happy people I’ve known. She pushed the cousins and I to always strive and do our best, motivating us to try harder and harder. Grandma was always so smiley and always had a good time. She’s the best cook in the world, and I just know that next time I make pancakes out of Bisquick mix, she’s gonna be watching from up above and saying, “Why don’t you make it from scratch?!”. To the best cook/motivator/best dancing partner/and one of the best grandma’s anyone could ever ask for, thank you. Thank you for everything grandma, missing you more and more every single day. I love you, forever and ever.
-Love, your favorite granddaughter.

Michael Barcelona (Mom's Email)

203w ago

Shared Memory by Ethel’s grandson, Michael Barcelona, at the Funeral Service on 11/11/2021

Hi, my name is Michael Barcelona and I am the youngest grandson. I will never forget how Grandma always took care of me every time I was sick or when my parents would not be able to watch me. During breaks, too, especially summer because I would go there every weekday for almost three months. Sometimes when we would randomly come to visit or pick something up from her house, she would always ask me questions like “What are you doing here?” or “How are you doing in school?” She would always be happy to see us and she was always proud when I showed her my straight A’s.
Grandma was always so thoughtful. She would always know the kinds of clothes that I liked wearing and the types of toys I wanted to play with when I was younger. She would buy me toys like legos and transformers for Christmas. Sometimes she helped me sew the loose threads of my clothes. Because of her, my clothes felt so much more comfortable and I wouldn’t have to worry about feeling uncomfortable whenever I wore them.
When grandma would cook, I remembered that she would make foods special for me. One day she started to make banana pancakes because I liked it and because she knew I loved garlic, she put extra pieces in a separate bowl from soups she made so that I could have them. Some of my favorite foods I enjoyed when she made them were spaghetti, petchi, french toast, balatong and so many more. Her cooking was truly the best.
Grandma always knew that I love playing basketball. She would always support me. Whenever she could, she would go to my games and cheer for me even if she may have not understood what was really going on. She would always tell me I did a good job whether I did good or not.
This summer, grandma would ask my brother and I to take her to the store more frequently with all of the stay home policies, so we helped her shop and we found a way to make shopping fun for us and to make her laugh. We would play a game at Longs and Safeway where she lists everything we needed to get, we would split up, and whoever gets the items she needed first, wins. I also enjoyed going to Home Depot with her and Bryce because I got to help her find gardening materials for her plants, which is something that she loved to do at home all the time.
I am going to miss you grandma. Thank you for the wonderful memories. Thank you for everything, and thank you for being my grandma.

Joshua Samonte (Mom's Email)

203w ago

Shared Memory by Ethel’s grandson, Joshua Samonte at the Funeral Service on 11/11/2021 - page 1 of 2

Good evening, thank you everyone for coming today. My name is Joshua and I am one of grandma's grandsons. Grandma has always been there my entire life. From the days where I would be too scared to sleep in the living room with the cousins so she'd let me sleep in her bed with her, all the way to these past couple years of her being my backup singer as we drove around listening to old tunes.
Growing up, I got to spend a lot of time with her. I would always make my trips to “grandma’s house” which is what we used to call the house we live in now, almost everyday after school. My earliest memories with grandma consisted of her cooking me scrambled eggs, hanging out in her bedroom, our early dinners together on school days, playing cards with her, and the endless summers when she would watch my cousins and I, ah the good ole days. As I grew up I got to make countless memories with grandma, some of the best ones usually having something to do with her awesome cooking. Some of my favorites were her eggs, lumpia, banana lumpia, banana pancakes, pork and pechay, and especially her spaghetti.
However one of the most memorable moments with grandma was when we still lived in Mililani and I had taken her to a times supermarket to buy ingredients. After we finished shopping we headed back to the car and put the food in the bed of my truck. Being that my running boards were so high, grandma usually needed some help getting up. Most of the time it was a little push and she could bring herself the rest of the way up, however this time was a little different. After a couple pushes grandma still couldn’t get in and I started to freak out. Thoughts like “how am I gonna get her in?” or “Oh no I can’t push her too hard because I might hurt her.” began coursing through my brain. However, in the midst of my freakout, while almost half way in the car and dangling from the grab handle, of all things, grandma begins to laugh hysterically. I was in disbelief. I then scolded her and said “grandma why are you laughing?!” and she just kept saying “because its funny!” This lasted for a while all the way until a lady noticed a very scrawny 16 year old struggling to shove his grandma into his truck and then yelled “hey do you need help?” from all the way across the parking lot for everyone to hear. This made grandma laugh even harder and being mad couldn’t even begin to describe how I felt. Finally with the help of the generous lady, we got grandma in the car and she continued to laugh periodically the rest of the day. Even till this day whenever someone mentioned it to her she would just start laughing, and looking back at it, it really was funny, maybe not for me at that moment, but funny nonetheless.
But that was grandma, always finding the best in situations, didn’t really care what others thought, and was always so happy. Grandma was also one of the most supportive, caring, loving, and real people in my life. She never judged me for my faults or my screw ups and was one of the few people I could be my true self with. She constantly catered to others and put others before herself, especially her family. She always pushed the kids to the best of our abilities and instilled this belief of striving to be better in all of us.
Looking back at it, ever since we moved in with Grandma I feel that I might have taken this time with her for granted, and didn’t really realize until recently of how much of a blessing it was to live with her, especially during quarantine.

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Joshua Samonte (Mom's Email)

203w ago

Shared Memory by Ethel’s grandson, Joshua Samonte at the Funeral Service on 11/11/2021
page 2 of 2

One of my not so proudest moments was when I seemed irritated over something that had happened. Grandma then stopped what she was doing and reached out to me and said “Josh are you mad at me? Did I do something?” It then reminded me of how much she really cared for me and how loving she was. Instead of getting mad at me for the way I was acting, it was more important to her to make sure that I was okay. Though sometimes we didn’t meet eye to eye, time and time again, grandma showed that she loved us all very much and there was nothing that could ever change that.
So today we celebrate grandma's life, but don’t be sad that she is gone, rather be grateful and happy that she touched all our lives in one way or another and that we all got to have this amazing individual in our lives for so long. So to my grandma, one of my greatest role models, and one of my best friends, thank you for everything and I love you more than you could ever know. I will forever miss your irreplaceable smile and the sound of your laughter.
And I think Puff Daddy said it best when he said, “Every step I take, Every move I make, Every single day, Every time I pray, I’ll be missing you.” You will forever hold a special place in my heart grandma. Rest in love.
Joshua

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Bryce Barcelona (Mom, Dale's Email)

203w ago

Shared Memory by Ethel’s grandson, Bryce Barcelona at the Funeral Service on 11/11/2021

Hi my name is Bryce Barcelona and I am the oldest grandson. Other than my parents, Grandma would always be the person to take care of me. Luckily she only lived 10 minutes away from us so it wasn’t a far drive to see her. I would hear stories about how I would go to her house where she would make me breakfast every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday before I attended preschool. She would also watch over me every school break from kindergarten up until my Sophomore year in high school. My favorite were the long summer days where we would get dropped off at 7 in the morning and would leave at around 5 in the evening. On lucky days, my cousins and I would be able to sleep over and would have the times of our lives. We’d stay up way past our bed times and mess with grandma as we would always laugh really loud cracking jokes. She would then say, “ I sos it’s past 12 o’clock, you guys sound like laughing hyenas.” We were so full of energy until we laughed too much to the point we were exhausted and knocked out. I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and see grandma go to sleep around 3, but somehow breakfast was always prepared by the time we all got out of bed.
One of her passions was always cooking. She would always cook food for us, barely bought any takeout or fast food, all of her food was homemade, and her favorite way to make everything was from scratch. One of my favorite simple foods that I would ask her to make was sunny side up eggs. It was quick to make with crispy brown edges, yet somehow they were still runny on the inside. Anything I would ask her to cook, she would always make it, no questions asked. From adobo, to pinakbet, to even pork and bean sprouts, stinky fish, and eggplant omelette. When I had my wisdom teeth taken out, I was miserable because I was only eating sherbert so grandma made me either pinakbet or petchi because it was soft and cut everything to really tiny pieces so I didn’t have to struggle when I was chewing everything.
As we got older and I could drive myself around, I wouldn’t go to her place during breaks as much anymore, but I would randomly call her sometimes after school to ask her if I could hang out with her and study for a couple of hours, especially for exams. We would catch up and of course she would always offer to make me food. I also made it a point to also try to take grandma to the post office to send out letters, to Longs and Safeway for groceries, or to home depot to get things for her garden. She has always been very generous by helping take care of us kids, so it felt really satisfying to return the favor and take her around to places she loved shopping at.
I have so many happy memories with her, especially going to her house, but I can’t say I had one memory that stands out from the others. She has done so much for me, has always been there for me, and we shared so many wonderful moments that not one stood out from the rest because they are all so special to me. I want to just thank her for all that she has done for me and for being a big part of my life. I am really going to miss you grandma. Thank you.

Joshua Samonte (Mom's Email)

203w ago

Shared Memory by Ethel’s grandson, Joshua Samonte at the Funeral Service on 11/11/2021 - page 1 of 2

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