My father Walter Panganiban passed away peacefully in his home in Dublin California yesterday evening.
Dad emigrated to the US in the late 60s from the Philippines. He paved the way for many of his family to come to America and set them up for success.
He was a respected family physician in the Bay Area for many decades, serving thousands of patients over the years. He worked almost until the last days (perhaps too long in my opinion). Even when hospitalized, dad was still giving his expert medical opinion on himself to all the doctors and nurses serving him.
Dad was always 100% devoted to his family, to a fault. He reserved little time or energy for himself. He loved gardening, tending his orchard, fishing, and photography. He told terrible jokes and laughed first and loudest at them.
I think I saw him lose his temper once. He was a calm, even-keeled human who tried to get along with everyone. Which is something I inherited from him.
“I wasn’t perfect,” dad said to us in his final week. “But I tried my best.” That’s all that any of us can hope for.
I’m proud that he was my dad and grateful that I got to spend his last days and hours with him.
