Amelia Juico-Gordon, 89

Amelia Juico-Gordon, born on September 4, 1920, passed away on November 17, 2009 at the age of eighty-nine.

She was a tireless public servant, elected as the first woman mayor of Olongapo City following the assassination of her husband James Gordon, Sr. in 1967 and then as Assemblywoman in the Batasan Pambansa in 1984.

She continued her life of service in the private sector, advocating the protection and promotion of the welfare of needy and abandoned children, legally adopting fifty-four children as her own, changing the lives of thousands more as the founder of the Olongapo Boys Town and Girls Home, and founding several other civic organizations such as the Olongapo City Civic Action Group (OCAG), the Iba-Olongapo Catholic Women’s League, and the Olongapo City Red Cross where she also served as Chairperson for twenty-eight years.

In recognition of her humanitarian pursuits, her dedication to children and adoption, and her life-long work for the cause of abandoned Filipino children of American descent, Amelia Juico-Gordon became the second Filipina recipient of the Pearl S. Buck International Woman of the Year Award in 2002.

She also received numerous medals and awards for her other political and civic accomplishments, including the Doña Aurora Aragon Medal, the Silver Jubilee Family Award, the Silver Medal Award from the Philippine National Red Cross, the 1985 Gintong Ina Award Alay kay Inay, the 1993 Gold Humanitarian Service Cross Award, and the 2000 Centennial Woman of the Year Award.

Amelia Juico-Gordon lived a full life, affecting positive change in the lives of so many people, and inspiring and enabling countless more to live as human beings deserving of dignity and respect.

She is survived by her children -- Veronica "Onnie" Gordon-Lorenzana, Barbara "Bai" Gordon-Delos Reyes, Cecille Gordon-Mullen, Richard "Dick" Gordon, James "Bong" Gordon and Imelda Deza.