Florenda Fuerte Gutierrez's Obituary
Florenda Fuerte Gutierrez, a longtime teacher and a beloved wife, mom, auntie, and grandma, passed away peacefully on July 9, 2024, at the age of 98.
Florenda was born on April 10, 1926, in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, the ninth of ten children born to Donato Fuerte and Marcelina (Valenzuela) Fuerte.
She became a well-respected sixth-grade teacher in Pagudpud and was active in St. Jude Catholic Church. She would have continued that quiet life in the far northern rural Philippines had not Ricarte Gutierrez, a Filipino-American from Hawaii, come calling. The two were wed in St. Jude’s on June 5, 1966.
After a honeymoon sailing aboard the passenger liner S.S. President Wilson from Manila to Japan and then to Honolulu, Floring began a new life in the United States. She had a day job as a salesclerk at the old GEM department store in Kapalama while she studied to become a U.S. citizen and went to night school at the University of Hawaii.
Floring then began a decades-long career with KCAA Preschools of Hawaii, teaching hundreds of four-year-olds at Laura Morgan Preschool in Kalihi before retiring in the 1990s.
She loved working in her garden, growing roses, orchids, anthuriums and many other flowering plants. She also was an awesome cook, using vegetables she also grew in her garden to make several Filipino dishes the way her mother had taught her.
Floring also enjoyed reading, traveling with her husband and family, singing in church, and watching pro tennis matches on television. She was happiest when surrounded by friends and family, especially when celebrating joyful occasions.
Florenda is survived by her son Ricarte Gutierrez, Jr., daughter Carmensita Gutierrez-Chandler (Philip), and son Ben Gutierrez (Christopher Korsak), along with four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and dozens of nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband and her nine siblings.
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