Lourdes L. Vea

With great sorrow and bittersweet gratitude the Vea Family announces the passing of our mother, Lourdes Lagoc Vea. After a life spanning over ninety-nine years, she passed away peacefully on March 18, 2024 at her home. She was born on November 15, 1924 in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, the oldest of five children born to Daniel and Inez Lagoc.  

Her natural beauty and grace was apparent at a young age. She was just sixteen when she caught the eye of a young man, Bruno Vea, the person who would become the love of her life. They fell in love with the backdrop of war during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Her future husband, engaged in the guerilla resistance, was captured by the Japanese and taken prisoner. It wasn’t until the liberation of the Philippines by Allied forces in 1944 that Lourdes and Bruno were married on January 24, 1944, embarking on a journey together, and along the way blessed with 4 children - Estrellita, Elenor, Roldan and Anthony.

 The military took the family to bases overseas and the US and finally to El Paso which became their final home. In El Paso they were part of a small community of Filipinos who became life-long friends. She and her late husband were founding  members of the Filipino-American Association of El Paso, an organization that honors and remembers the values and traditions of her native country and also  served as the center of their social life.

 Like many women of that era she was a homemaker and mother, content to devote her life in creating a loving, nurturing home for her family. It was her influence and guiding hand that produced four exceptional children, successful by any measure - in life, career, or as people. Ironically, she herself was sent away at a young age to be raised by an aunt, and it was a hurt that remained with her all her life. But from that hurt came her resolve to raise her own children with as much love as she had in her heart.

 Lourdes and Bruno shared a love story for the ages. The attraction between them never waned throughout their marriage, and the pride her husband felt having her as his wife and life partner was obvious to anyone who knew them. In the later years, she endured the numerous worries over her husband’s health and she experienced the hardship of caring for him until she couldn’t any longer. Lourdes was a loving and devoted wife, always supporting and encouraging through every phase of their life together until their final parting on October 4, 2019.

 Her life as wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend are the hallmarks by which she will be remembered by those who loved and cherished her. Her legacy is also the love and kindness with which she treated every person, her humble demeanor, generous spirit, and incomparable beauty and grace.

 She is irreplaceable in the lives of her four children and their families: Esther and Charles (deceased) Coy of El Paso, Texas, Elenor and Ed Diesto and Anthony and Stella Vea of Plano, Texas, and Roldan and Laurie Vea of Annapolis, Maryland; grandchildren Eric and Susanna Coy, Richard and Cynthia Coy, Matthew and Carolyn Vea, and Lyndsay Hall; and great-grandchildren Eric and Elena Coy, Brielle, Colton (deceased), Nathaniel, and Elissa Coy, Ethan Hall, and Zoey and Celeste Vea. She will live on in those who loved her deeply.

 “… We may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say goodbye, but little by little we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived, and that life gave us memories too beautiful to ever forget.”

Visitation will take place from 5:00 - 8:00 PM with Rosary at 7:00 PM, on Monday, April 01, 2024 at Sunset Funeral Homes- Northeast, 4631 Hondo Pass. Funeral Mass will take place at 9:30 AM on April 02, 2024 at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 10000 Pheasant. Committal Service will follow at 11:00 AM at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.  Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Homes-Northeast.  Please visit her online memorial at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net.