By HAIDEE V. EUGENIO and MONETH G. DEPOSA
\nReporters <\/p>\n
FRANK G. CEPEDA
\nVietnam War veteran and former representative Frank Guerrero Cepeda passed away on Aug. 15 at the age of 71. Two months later, his wife of 52 years, Fe, followed him.<\/p>\n
A proud retired sergeant major from the Green Beret, Cepeda served as a member of the CNMI House of Representatives, became special assistant for military and veterans\u2019 affairs, a JROTC program manager, and a military science instructor.<\/p>\n
Cepeda, in seeking election for another government post in 2005, said returning the \u201ctrust in our elected leaders\u201d should always be a priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must make sure that people\u2019s morale is restored,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
LUIS P. CRISOSTIMO
\nAfter a long but valiant fight with throat cancer, former four-term senator Luis Palacios Crisostimo passed away on June 15 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 52. <\/p>\n
Months prior to his passing, he asked his former colleagues to allow him to go back to the Senate \u201cone last time,\u201d and senators granted that wish on June 28 when his remains were brought to the Senate for a moving, well-attended memorial tribute.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe walked the halls and chambers of this legislative house with dignity and respect\u2026 His voice may not be loud, but his actions and excellence spoke loudly of him. His name is appended into the history book of our Commonwealth. He is now at peace, and we shall, someday, be reunited,\u201d Rep. Ray Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan) said at the memorial tribute, a day before Crisostimo\u2019s funeral. <\/p>\n
BERNARD V. HOFSCHNEIDER
\nBernard Arthur Villagomez Hofschneider, one of the Marianas Political Status Commission negotiators that hammered out the Covenant to pave the way for the islands to join the American political family, passed away on Oct. 27 this year. He was 74.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a longtime public servant, leader, and a devout Catholic. That\u2019s how I would want the CNMI to remember him\u2026 He\u2019s well-mannered, very articulate and intelligent,\u201d one of his youngest nephews, Lt. Gov. Jude U. Hofschneider, said.<\/p>\n
Bernard V. Hofschneider, who hails from Tinian, is survived by his wife, Guadalupe \u201cLupe\u201d DLG Reyes Hofschneider, and children. <\/p>\n
JACINTO B. MENDIOLA
\nThe former village commissioner for Chalan Kanoa, Jacinto B. Mendiola, passed away on Oct. 25. He was 85 years old. The late commissioner served with distinction in various capacities during the Naval Administration, the Trust Territory, and the CNMI government for more than four decades. Mendiola was honored for his valuable contributions to the improvement of the Municipality of Saipan.<\/p>\n
JUAN B. TUDELA
\nFormer two-term Saipan mayor Juan Borja Tudela passed away on Feb. 1 at a Hawaii hospital after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. His passing was described as a \u201cdeep loss\u201d for the CNMI. He was 77.
\n\u201cAs a native son of the Commonwealth, Mayor Tudela lived a life dedicated to public service through numerous key positions in both the trust territory and Commonwealth governments,\u201d former governor Benigno R. Fitial said in a statement on Tudela\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n
Besides serving as a Saipan mayor, Tudela was also a member of the House of Representatives, a Board of Education member, village commissioner and scoutmaster with the Garapan Boy Scouts. He was instrumental in bringing in Japanese students through the NMI-Japan Cultural Exchange programs where hundreds of students were given the opportunity to travel in the CNMI and Japan. <\/p>\n
ESCOLASTICA B.
\nTUDELA-CABRERA
\nEscolastica B. Tudela-Cabrera, the first female member of the Saipan Municipal Council in 1963 and an active civic leader in the community, passed away on Oct. 21 at the age of 83. Dubbed as the \u201cchampion of common causes\u201d beneficial to the CNMI, she was recognized for her outstanding public service that contributed to the progress of the islands. <\/p>\n
Tudela-Cabrera was the first captain of the \u201cAmerica Needs Fatima Rosary Rally\u201d and held various posts in community and school associations and had participated in the White House conference on aging. She was also the first female grand marshal of the Saipan Liberation Day festivities. The late civic leader was also credited for opening various employment opportunities to the island people by opening different enterprises on Saipan.<\/p>\n
JOSE P SAN NICOLAS
\nJose P. San Nicolas, a former mayor of the Municipality of Tinian, died on June 28 in the Philippines after undergoing a heart operation. San Nicolas, the father of former senator Henry San Nicolas, has been battling against his illness for years until he was taken to a Manila hospital for the last surgery, which he failed to survive. The 66-year-old former chief executive officer served his island for one term in 2006. He was buried at the San Jose Cemetery on Tinian on July 6. San Nicolas, better known as \u201cJosen Chandia,\u201d was born on Nov. 15, 1946.<\/p>\n
ROMAN S. PALACIOS
\nFormer Commonwealth Ports Authority board chair Roman S. Palacios passed away on Oct. 10 after battling cancer for many years. He was 67 years old. Known for his generosity and quick wit, Palacios died of pancreatic cancer. He was the eldest of eight children of the late Jesus Mu\u00f1a Palacios and Anunciasion Sablan Palacios. Roman Palacios was married to Patricia Tenorio, whose family owns Joeten Enterprises, Inc. He grew up in Chalan Kanoa and went to school on Saipan before going to high school in Guam. He finished college at the University of Guam and went to work for Saipan Stevedore Co.<\/p>\n
ANTHONY PELLEGRINO
\nA well-known businessman and founder of the first ever trade institute in the Commonwealth, Anthony Pellegrino died of multiple health ailments on June 2 at the Commonwealth Health Center. Pellegrino, 82, owned firms such as Saipan Sea Ventures, Aquaculture, Saipan Ice Co., and Northern Marianas Trade Institute, among others. In his passing, the late businessman was accorded numerous citations in recognition of his valuable contributions to the CNMI. <\/p>\n
Pellegrino was once awarded the Saipan Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Businessman of the Year for his notable works and assistance to the community by establishing various employment opportunities, including the creation of the Northern Marianas Trade Institute, seen as key to developing the NMI\u2019s workforce. He was also selected in 2009 as the Saipan Tribune\u2019s Person of the Year and where he wrote a weekly column.<\/p>\n
Pellegrino was also the founding president of the CNMI\u2019s Library Friends, a group dedicated in raising monies for the public library\u2019s programs and activities. Prior to his passing, he was also able to establish the Arctic Circle to help farmers and ranchers better promote their produce outside of the Commonwealth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FRANK G. CEPEDA
\nVietnam War veteran and former representative Frank Guerrero Cepeda passed away on Aug. 15 at the age of 71. Two months later, his wife of 52 years, Fe, followed him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}