Dr. Geraldine Valencia Go

Gerry passed away after a short illness at St. Francis Hospital with her beloved husband Ricky and daughter Kim at her side. She was 74 years old.

Born in Gulut Gubiernu, Santo Nino, San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. Gerry was the first-born of Crisenciano Valencia and Delia Nucum’s five children. As the first female grandchild of the Nucum clan, her grandparents Baldo and Gonyang dotted on her.

Even as a young child, Gerry showed signs that she would be someone special and destined for high achievements. One of the of the most popular girls in town, she always played leading parts in school dances, plays, and town festivities. She is fondly remembered as the first Muse of the barrio Santo Nino’s famed basketball team, the UMT (aka Under the Mango Tree).

Gerry could accomplish anything that she set her mind to do. She graduated near the top of her high school class at Assumption Academy. At 17, with the help of her Uncle Ding, she immigrated to the US and enrolled at the Harrisburg Polyclinic in Harrisburg, PA. She then moved to New York City in 1970 to pursue a degree in nursing and later earned her Master’s in at NYU in 1976. In 1989, while working full-time and raising her daughter, she attained her ultimate goal- a PhD in Nursing Philosophy at Adelphi University.

She was Chair of the Undergraduate program at the College of New Rochelle until 2010. She was also adjunct faculty at LIU Hunter and Lehman Colleges. Although known for her tough and demanding teaching style, she was a respected and much-admired Assistant Professor of Nursing. She immensely enjoyed teaching the next generation of nurses to get them prepared to face the rigors of real-world nursing challenges until her retirement in 2017. With her numerous achievements, she has unabashedly made in known that her most cherished accomplishments are her fulfilling marriage and the successful rearing of their child.

Gerry is survived by Ricky, her husband of 45 years, daughter Kim and Kim’s spouse Simi; her granddaughter Sivan; sisters and their spouses, April and John Tagliarino, Bon and Freddie Yee, Iris and Bert Biliwang, and her only brother Stan; four nieces; four nephews; five grandnephews, and four grandnieces.

In lieu of flowers, on-line donations can made in her memory to:

§ American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718 Oklahoma City, OK 73123 www.donate3.cancer.org

§ Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, 135 Parkinson Ave., Staten Island, NY 10305 www.parkinson.org

§ American Heart Association, National Center, 7272 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX 72231 www.heart.org