Maria "Lulu" Lourdes Feliciano's Obituary
Maria "Lulu" Lourdes Feliciano, age 86, passed away on Saturday, May 11, 2024, in Sachse, Texas. She was born in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija, Philippines on September 15, 1937, to parents, Antonieta Lopez Panlilio Ortiz and Alfredo Lamson Ortiz.
She met her husband, Mario Constantino Feliciano, at a hospital in the Philippines, when she was a medical student at Manila Central University. A mutual friend introduced Lulu to Mario, who was a medical student at the University of Santo Tomas Medical School.
Lulu and Mario married on January 1, 1963, and, together, they emigrated to the United States of America, each becoming medical residents at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts (“BU”).
Lulu was initially an obstetrics-gynecology resident. However, when a friend saw her in the doctor’s lounge, ill from morning sickness, her friend suggested that she change medical specialties if she and Mario planned to have multiple children.
Following her friend’s advice, Lulu switched specialties and became an anesthesiology medical resident.
While she was a medical resident at BU, Lulu gave birth to her first two children, Melanie Agnes and Michael Nicholas (Nick).
From Boston, they moved to New York City, obtaining fellowships in their respective medical specialties. They then moved back to Quezon City, Philippines for almost two years before moving back to the United States, to Ludlow, Massachusetts.
While Lulu was in the Philippines, she gave birth to her next two children, Maria Katrina and Marc Lawrence.
After approximately one year in Ludlow, Lulu and Mario moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where she was an Assistant Professor at the medical school at the University of Louisville. Following about five (5) years in Louisville, she and Mario moved to Dallas, Texas, in December, 1975, where they raised their four (4) children. They remained in Dallas for 23 years, until 1997.
Lulu worked primarily with orthopedic surgeons, ENT surgeons, and plastic surgeons, administering anesthesia to her patients at Medical City – Dallas, Medical City – Plano, and Richardson Memorial Hospital.
In 1995, after suffering a mild stroke, Lulu retired from her career as an anesthesiologist. A job that was a transition to Mario’s retirement prompted Lulu and Mario’s move to Sayre, Oklahoma, in 1997. Upon Mario’s retirement in 2000, they moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. After residing in Las Vegas for almost 11 years, they moved to Cypress, California to join Melanie.
When Melanie decided to return home to Dallas in February, 2021, settling in Sachse, TX, Lulu and Mario followed her.
America provided the dream for a better life than Lulu’s native country could; together, Lulu and Mario made that dream a reality, living the American dream through hard work and a good work ethic. They built a wonderful and loving home for their family and provided their children with superb educations, for which their children are extremely grateful.
Lulu loved flowers of all kinds, scrapbooking, jewelry, and entertaining friends and family. She also enjoyed watching golf on TV; she understood the game well after watching golf on TV with Mario for many years. In her younger days, she loved antiquing, gardening, and traveling all over the world. Most of all, she loved being surrounded by her family.
In her final days, despite growing weaker, less mobile and tired, Lulu still insisted on putting on makeup before leaving the house, even if it was for a doctor’s appointment. She always wanted to look presentable!
Lulu gave her children and grandchildren a lasting legacy that will be passed from generation to generation: her beliefs in hard work, education, nurturing one’s career, and dressing respectably; her appreciation for letter and note writing and the importance of penmanship (she was a great letter – and card – writer); and her values for respecting older generations, greeting others with friendliness and kindness, and finally, keeping a strong bond with family no matter the distance or obstacles standing in the way.
Lulu is preceded in death by her parents, Antonieta Lopez Panlilio Ortiz and Alfredo Lamson Ortiz; her older granddaughter, Isabella Beatrice Pleyto Feliciano; her youngest sister, Edna Ortiz; and Mario’s cousin and beloved nanny to her children, Zenaida “Nida” Baluyut.
She is survived by her devoted husband, Mario Feliciano; her daughter Melanie Feliciano; her son Michael Nicholas Feliciano and daughter-in-law Sylvia Feliciano, and step-grandchildren, Valerie Valles, Amanda Valles, and Kristian Valles, and step-great-granddaughters, Brielle Maldonado and Chloe Chittenden; her daughter Katrina Feliciano Stoddard, son-in-law Wade Stoddard, and grandchildren Amélie Julia Stoddard and Kieran Wade Stoddard; son Marc Lawrence Feliciano, daughter-in-law Carolyn Pleyto-Feliciano, and grandson Antonio Gabriel Feliciano y Pleyto; her sister Sonya Ortiz-Suarez, nephew Alfredo Filomeno Suarez, niece Kristina Cecilia De La Cruz, and nephew Eduardo Suarez; sisters-in-law, Josefina Feliciano and Imelda Feliciano; first cousin Jocelyn Sandico Cordero, who was like a sister to Lulu; nephew Gerard Feliciano and niece Regina “Reena” Feliciano; and loyal family friend, Mariela Garcia.
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