Mario's Wall

1/5/2011

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 08:51:27
Hello Friends, You are our extended family ~ did you know that a man's happiness is found with his friends? Thank you for making my brother happy! A few days after he passed on, Public Broadcasting Service ran a film on that exact notion. Too late! Mario left us na! He would have understood, and still done his own thing: Mario was a private fellow. We all loved him for that. But, and, he was also funny!!
Please post your thoughts, funny stories and love for my Big brother here.
We cannot come to Bacolod to hold a wake, but, we can show our gratitude to you in this website Wall.
I invite you to participate and help us cope with our loss. Salamat gidya.
Diding and Manang Gela

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:29:07
Mario, Maryo, Yo,
Wasssuuuuup !!!!!!
Your sister Manang Gela has been sharing a lot of stories of your visits to her in Sarasota every year around Christmas/New Year time. She's understandably broken up. She's missing you a lot. She remembers knocking on your door and you would pop your head out and say that you're almost ready. She told me that she would bring you, her baby brother, wherever she went. To parties, to Bell practice at church and to her tennis matches. She was waiting for you this past September. She said you were packing up your stuff and leaving Manila for good. She told me that she was preparing one of her condos for you to live and hang out for awhile. You wanted to try your hands on eBay.
Mario, am getting to know her now. She calls me by my nickname "Lily" and she embellishes my name to "Lily-pad", and "Lily-gaw". I would add "Lily-to" "Lily-mos" and "lily-mos". The game you and I used to play I now play with your Manang Gels. If you don't mind I might post again later. Later dude, Mario, Maryo, Yo. Miss you man. Georgia/Lily

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:49:47
I called mario prussie...whenever he visited our old apartment (which we shared during our student days)..he would ring the doorbell, I would answer and the ritual was: I would do a diva bow, then he would immediately, without a word said between us, do runway.....which he was excellent at...shades of dayang dayang or better yet, Minnie Cagatao...it was silly but comforting...a ritual of sorts...all 6' 3" of him....and that would be my best memory of the gentle giant erstwhile karilagan model...and then there was the time he showed up in a kilt...but that's another story... ed sicangco

(no email)
Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:02:56
Ay Pare, you left me high-and-dry again! It took me forever to catch up with you or glimpse your shadow and now you've left me and all of your classmates again! For such a big man you are always remembered by your classmates as Taynee...Thank you for all those fast and furious exchanges of emails about our reminiscings during our high school days at La Salle Bacolod leading to our Ruby Reunion. I was hoping to make it back this year so I could be with you to share all these memories in person, 40 long years and now, staring at such time when we can join you when we leave this temporary place we call home! Just don't forget to look back and help your friends in need please. May you rest in the peace and care of the Lord Taynee! Junior. Sergio Valderrama

Tue, 04 Jan 2011
Only fond memories of Mario, no crazy memories, wish I had some of those, but my (and Mars')memories were few but truly fond: Gela bringing him to our Morristown house to critique it because he was an architect; designing and fitting Gela for her beautiful peach (salmon?) suit(dress?)for her wedding to Bim at the Jongco garden; a few visits to NYC; meeting him towards the end at the wedding of Claire Lim in Makati... Mario lived life with his good looks, with charm, creativity and a gentleness of spirit. He will be missed, not just by Gela who loved him dearly but by all of us who got to know him. May God bless his soul and may he rest in peace. Cora Custodio

11 Comments

Georgia Lily

1/5/2011 07:03:14 am

Dear Manangs Gela & Diding, Angel Mario, Mario's friends, and esteemed colleagues,

I am so honored to be part of this project, Mario's 'In Memoriam' website.

Please check out this link:
http://www.stanthony-sacramento.org/

Mario's work, a wood wall sculpture of a young St. Anthony is prominently displayed as part of this church's website. I direct you to the top left hand corner of the home page/website of St Anthony's church located in Sacramento, California.

Georgia "Lily" Tamayo-Tanaka

Prima Tessa

1/14/2011 02:10:15 am

"Meaning is not something you stumble across,
like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt.
Meaning is something you build into your life.
You build it out of your own past,
out of your affections and loyalties,
out of the experience of humankind as it has been passed on to you,
out of your own talent and understanding,
out of the things you believe in,
out of the things and people you love,
out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something.
The ingredients are there.
You are the only one who can put them together
into that unique pattern that will be your life.
Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you.
If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure
is of less account." ( - John Gardner)

To my dear sweet lovable cousin Mario,

Though we will miss your presence in this life, we know you rest in peace because you have done all you can to live a life full of meaning. In spite of life's challenges, you have successfully put your ingredients together into a unique and beautiful life! One you can be proud of! We should all learn from you.... and that is your legacy, dear Mario!

With love and prayers,

Prima Tessa

Jo Velasco

1/17/2011 08:31:11 am

Gela,

Thank you so much for sending me the link for your brother, Mario. Too bad I did not get to meet him. I am very much involved in church environment in our church. I have been to the House of Prayer in Orange that he designed and it is so beautiful and awe inspiring. You really feel like praying and meditating when you' re in there. I feel blessed for seeing at least one of his works.

God bless.

Jo

Maria Chinita Montenegro

1/23/2011 10:13:33 am

Gela, Diding, Pinky, Bambi, Mike and Angelo, My heart goes out to you all in your time of loss. My glimpses of Mario over the last forty years were brief and memorable. We crossed paths in California, Madrid, Miami, New Jersey--two Montenegro cousins re-connecting through time and distance. Each time we met I was impressed with Mario's kindness and dignity. Each time I came away wishing that I could know him more. Now I am sad because I won't see him again in this world. Yet as I read all the tributes to Mario from those who knew him well, I get a fuller view of him, and a sense that his spirit lives on... Much love, Chinita Maria Montenegro

Diding link

1/23/2011 03:17:00 pm

Dear cousins, classmates, Friends of my Brother, my Sister Gela's and, mine...
What sweet relief you all give us! Know that your missives give us comfort when we think about Mario and miss him. I grab at straws, wanting, looking for reason to remember my best friend, and, protector. I am moved when I read your notes, and, feel the love you give us. Thank you!
diding

Ruby S

2/11/2011 12:45:50 pm

Dear Diding. Thanks so much for sharing mario's website! Kudo's to all who made this possible as Mario's great achievements will live on. I did not get to meet Mario early on but I had the privilege of spending a month with him shortly before he died & I will be forever grateful to you for making this possible. Am so glad to have had the chance to show him my home which he truly appreciated and I take pride in the fact that my calls to him were always answered. I will treasure the memories I have of Mario and will surely miss him. Love, Ruby S

Vicky Torre

2/11/2011 12:46:45 pm

My dear Diding I'm so sorry to hear about Mario's demise. Sario mentioned he was sick but I had no idea it was serious. I am praying for him and for you too because I know how much you loved each other. Am now at work but will call you tonight. Take care gid.
Vicky Torre

Prandy Yulo

2/11/2011 12:48:07 pm

Mario's memorial and a powerpoint presentaiton I was touched with the outpouring of love from Mario's friends some of whom I didn't know, impressed with all his works that were shown in the presentation. Such humility of the person who did so many great creations. Though I hardly knew him, glad to have at least been around in his last days.
Prandy

Diding link

2/14/2011 02:36:12 pm

Dearest Mario,
I miss you! I retrace last July when we spent 5 weeks together. Because you continued to be elusive, not responding to emails, texts, calls, I decided on a face-to-face visit, so I flew a few thousand miles to see you... What a gift that turned out to be!

Mario! When we were together all those 1980's in New York, no one knew you were Vice President at your job at Rambusch? That was your first job out of Parsons Design School! That wudda been just too much for us, and, our rebellious, struggling Lower East Side Artist friends. You never told us ...
Posthumously, you continue to be an example of professional virtue... Thank you.

Alas, now we speak of you in The Past Tense.

Sus Mario ~ I have not cried like this since Mama died. We lost a sister, a brother, and then a father... I had No tears for them... With you sweet brother, I lose my breath, I grab my thoughts, I Look in books for understanding, to anchor this dismay: I should have, could have, waited to
return to the States with you. Doubt, afterthought can fill me...

So. Here we all are, your family of friends. We still talk about you, and, what animated glimpses we each have of you! Your 2 lives: both VIRTUAL, and, in Real Time.

Camus, whose youth, whose ideas about religion, and, relationships, I liken to yours, remind us this about you: "we know what charm is: a way of getting the answer "yes" without having asked
any clear question." Such was your charm. You'd arrive late, did you forget the time, the date? It did not matter. We were just happy to see your smiling eyes. Alas, now we speak of you in The Past Tense!
Thank you sweet brother, for being a part of my life. For protecting me when I needed that, for
teaching me restraint,
humility,
kindness,
ALL by your example.
I am priveledged to be your younger sister. This road was fun with you! I thank God you were here to help me become who I am.
Until next time,
Diding

Larry GZ

2/15/2011 01:28:39 am

Sent: 2/15/2011 7:48:46 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: MARIO LOCSIN: CIAO BELLO

Six degrees of separation brought me there. The nexus is complex yet so simple so I found myself there: the Memorial Service to commemorate the life of Mario Locsin, a man I had never met but would have been privileged to have known.

The service was scheduled to commence at 4 PM. Time enough for people to have had a leisurely brunch and to have disposed of any minor business yet early enough to carry on with more afterwards. The venue was the Penthouse of CitiMotors in Makati, owned by the Chings, friends of long standing of the Doloricos.

At the reception desk was a book showing some of Mario's architectural works. There was a photo of a young Locsin family taken circa 1950. Despite a haze in the photo resolution, the Castilian facial features were evident. The third picture was of Mario all grown up. Dark and handsome of face, confident of pose. I was impressed right then but was to be even more as the evening progressed.

There were nine linen-draped round tables centered with floral arrangements of white roses, green grevilleas and green berry-like sprigs. Surely not bunches one would gather from a neighbour's front yard. At the front was an impressive collection of audio and visual equipment, at the rear was a buffet spread gently steaming and waiters at the ready. To soften the hardware of the chafing dishes, another floral arrangement stood tall with flowers matching the table centres.

Sharing a table with Greg and Monina Lipat (a doctor and nurse respectively) who were in town for a series of medical missions, I learned that while they were also not related to Mario by blood, they had an indirect connection. The Lipats were neighbours from the Doloricos' New Jersey life. It was well past the hour when guests started arriving in earnest. Still within local social limits and judging from the names and some faces, they were entitled to be fashionably late. By the start of the service, the room was filled with Manila and Negros' who's who. While the Locsins and Laurels were clearly represented, names such as Yulo, Silverio, Campos, Yabut, Ledesma, Jacinto, Litton, Ortigas, Araneta, Benedicto, Coscolluela, Delgado were exchanging hugs and cheek pecks. Old names, old families, old money. Nouveaux were definitely clean and hard-earned and there by virtue of strong ties. One thing about "old", there is no compelling reason to out-do. No out-hairdo, no out-bling, no out-dress. If there were any Jimmy Choos, I did not notice them. Nobody raised her feet to show off. Conversations were animated but muted, laughter so gentle, they were almost sighs.

Gela started the service with a heartfelt extemporaneous message of happy memories of Mario and gratitude for the guests' attendance. Choking back tears, the audience hung on to her every word. Then followed brief informal eulogies. Celia Diaz-Laurel got up from her wheelchair to share the memories she cherished of Mario in the world of theatre. Kokoy Laurel seconded this with the time he spent with Mario while he was a student in New York and back in Manila. There were more recollections, happy memories. The common thread in all of these were passion, talent, voie de vivre, good taste.

An attempt to Skype with a sister in the States did not quite succeed so a screening of Mario's architectural ouvres was shown. Now there lies genius. His gift of art came from God and he certainly did not waste it. I do not profess any expertise on architecture nor am I qualified to critique architectural works but I know what my eyes have seen and how my heart was touched by his homage to God in his structures. In his churches and chapels, there is a quiet introspection that calms the soul and regenerates frazzled nerves.

Now let's take stock. He was a father, an actor, an architect. There may be other facets that I haven't heard about but my imagination is running rampant. Slap on a Stetson and some Levis and he's the Marlboro man. Now switch the hats and give him a medieval costume and he could be a character in a Goya or Rembrandt. Give him a t-shirt with a vest and denim trousers and I see him in an Armani billboard.

It is said that we're are all here for a purpose. Well, Mario Locsin, you took on a heavy load when assignments were given and you have accomplished them with brilliance, superb taste and spiritual consciousness. Bravo to you and, to borrow your favourite word, you're simply FABULOUS!!!

Edwina

2/26/2011 12:45:41 pm

"He is always in our thoughts and prayers. I still have a lot of his emails and

will always keep it. I told Angelo that I feel I have known him for years since

Mario has been sending us his pictures for years. Way before facebook."

Edwina

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