Teacher who touched thousands of lives
Teacher who touched thousands of lives
ESTHER PICKELL SANGALANG, 1930-2021
Esther Pickell Sangalang, born June 21, 1930, passed peacefully in her sleep on Sept. 7, 2021. She is survived by her six children, Edith, Cora, Evangeline, Henry, Elizabeth, and Rebecca, and by her 17 grandchildren Karlo, Alan, Katrina, Pamela, Angela, Catherine, Clarissa, Brian, Aleksandr, Voltaire, Nikolai, Leica, Dana, Danica, Isabel, Sarah, and Elijah; and her 6 great-grandchildren Alyna, Lucas, April, Andres, Camilla, and Damian.
Esther would have preferred us to not mourn her passing but to celebrate her life, and there is much to celebrate.
She was raised by a single mother and by her grandmother in Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines. She was fluent in Ilocano, Bolinao, and Pangasinan dialects in addition to English and Tagalog.
She lived through World War 2 and had to flee from the town to farmland to hide from the Japanese. Her education was delayed because of the war, and when she met and married Ramon Sangalang, she had not yet graduated from high school. Education was considered a priority as her parents were educators, so Esther finished high school while pregnant with her first child. She then continued to get her college degree in Education at the Philippine Women’s University in Manila in between pregnancies.
Esther later taught at Araullo High School, Philippine Women’s University, and the International School of Manila. Her students and co-teachers remember her as always being prepared for her classes. She narrated that she used the song “Impossible Dream” to teach infinitives.
Esther also managed three “sari-sari” (convenience) stores while studying (and later teaching) and managing her growing household. She also created income-generating opportunities for the neighbors by getting sewing contracts and teaching them how to sew.
In 1983, because of the political and economic situation in the Philippines, she decided to claim her US citizenship and bring her family to the United States. Here, she was warmly welcomed by her father’s side of the family. She taught at St. Joseph’s Catholic School. Soon after, she obtained a grant at the San Jose State University to study Special Education and obtained her Master’s Degree in her 60s. After that, she taught at the Anne Darling and Erickson Special Education schools till she retired in 2008.
Esther was a devoted teacher. Esther’s children witnessed her even sewing bibs at home for her students. At her retirement party, grateful parents of her students thanked her for all she had done for their children.
Ever willing to help others succeed, Esther tutored the aides in their school so they could pass the CBEST to become teachers themselves. She also tutored the neighbors’ kids who needed a little help.
Esther never lost her devotion to teaching and her sense of humor. Despite her dementia, in her lucid moments she would correct her caregivers’ pronunciation. And when asked how she was, she would reply in typical Filipino humorous play on words, ma-byuti!
Esther will forever live in the hearts of people whose lives she touched. Let us honor her memory by paying it forward.
(Edith Sangalang)
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