Mercedes Miscala T. Flores

Mercedes Miscala T. Flores, lovingly known as Ched, passed away peacefully at home on December 17, 2022 due to complications of bilateral pneumonia, resulting to heart failure, while surrounded with her family, loved ones, relatives and friends. She was 90 years old. Ched was born on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on September 15, 1932 in Kinawahan, San Remigio, Philippines to Vicente D. Miscala and Filomena L. Tangente. She was the youngest of 16 children. She is preceded in death by her parents and siblings: Dalmacia Arnado, Felipa Magusara, Diega Pacto, Moisa Tunacao, Rosario Tunacao, Crescencio Miscala, Martin Miscala, Trinidad Pagusara, and Laureana Magtanong. Ched was a renaissance woman and excelled in everything she set her mind on. She was a genius, who possessed an eidetic memory and a high IQ, which garnered her tremendous academic achievements and scholarships. In 1955, she graduated with a Nursing Degree from Southern Islands Hospital in Cebu, Philippines and Philippine Women’s University in Manila. She made the news when she passed the Nursing Board Exams with a perfect score. She received a Fulbright scholarship to Columbia University in New York City for her Master’s Degree, which she declined to marry her college sweetheart, Lloyd Kintanar Flores, Sr., on March 10, 1956. In March 1957, while working at Southern Islands Hospital, the plane that carried the Philippine President, Ramon Magsaysay, crashed at Mt. Manunggal, Cebu, Ched led the care of the lone survivor, a Filipino journalist named Nestor Mata, who wrote it all in his book, One Came Back. After that event, Ched worked at DeOcampo Memorial School of Nursing in Manila until finally moving to her husband’s hometown of Davao City, where she continued to teach and train nurses at San Pedro Hospital School of Nursing, Brokenshire Memorial School of Nursing, and Ateneo de Davao University Arts and Sciences Department. She held numerous positions from Clinical Instructor, Assistant Principal to Acting Principal. She opened and ran the Mount Apo Hospital as Director of Nursing; and organized two nursing schools with Cagayan de Oro Doctors Hospital in Mindanao and Lipa City, Legaspi in Luzon, Philippines. In 1969, Ched graduated Summa cum Laude from the University of Mindanao in Davao City with a Masters in Administration. A few years later, she accepted a two year post-graduate work in Health Administration from Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, earning her Masters in Nursing. In 1976, Lloyd & Mercedes immigrated to the United States from Davao City, Philippines and lived in Philadelphia, then settled in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, before finally retiring in Newberry, Florida in 1997. They are officially recognized as the first Filipino-American couple to settle in Gilchrist County where they built their retirement home on their 6.5 acre property they called the Golden Glen. Ched worked at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia as a Neonatal Unit Manager until her retirement after twenty-three and a half years of service. During that time, she was appointed as an Associate Clinical Professor in the Neonatal Graduate Program for Temple University Department of Nursing and Villanova University for seven years. She was elected twice to the “Who’s Who in American Nursing by the Society of American Nursing Professionals,” exclusively honoring accomplished nurses in different fields. In 2004, her life inspired a book called Mercedes Legacy. Of the numerous awards of distinction she received during her entire nursing career, she said nothing compared to her many blessings: marriage of 61 years, six children (five sons - all named Lloyd, known by their nicknames: Butch (wife Mellie), Gigi (wife Jensine), Guy (wife Ruby), Roy (wife Lilang) & Matt (wife Estrella) and a daughter, also Mercedes or Merci (husband Scott)), fourteen grandchildren: Keith, John, Justin, Jeremy, Danny, VJ, Jason, Alexander, Pete, Stephanie, Zacharie, Carly, Katelyn, and Luke; twelve great-grandchildren: John Patrick, Lars Juwon, Lakeisha Jewel, Elyse Jensine, McKinley Grace, Kate Parker, London, Lazarus Elliot, Vera Evangeline, Wycliffe Emmanuel, Adoniram Judson, Gladys Elisabeth; great-great-grandchild: Kaia with another one on the way in 2023. Ched was known for her selflessness, generosity, hospitality, and kindness. She loved to sew, cook, garden, write, travel, watch sports, entertain, and dance. She enjoyed playing games like mahjong and bingo with her family and friends. People gravitated to her and immediately felt a familial connection with her which was why many called her Mommy Ched. Ched was especially known for her deep faith. She was a devout Roman Catholic who was fiercely devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary – she prayed the rosary every day, attended daily mass, adoration, and retreats, made lifelong friends with clergy and religious sisters. After the death of her husband in 2017, Ched became a “Winter Texan,” residing part time in Corpus Christi, Texas with her daughter and husband. In January 2018, Ched met Pope Francis during his Wednesday audience at the Vatican. She said it one of the most grace filled moments of her life when Pope Francis blessed and kissed her, asking her to pray for him and in return to pray for her. “Pray for me” were her last lucid words to her family – she considered prayers to be the perfect gifts especially the rosary. She lived an extraordinarily blessed life and touched countless lives especially her extended families, friends, colleagues, and students. She was a consummate teacher; she took every opportunity as a teachable moment and we are all the better for it. She was incredibly loved and will be greatly missed but never forgotten. She will be prayed for unceasingly. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, at Williams-Thomas Funeral Westarea 823 N.W. 143rd St. Newberry, FL. from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Wednesday, December 21, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. at Queen of Peace Catholic Church 10900 SW 24th Ave, Gainesville, FL with Father Alberto Esposito as Celebrant. The family will receive friends at the church one hour prior to the service beginning at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asked to enroll Ched in perpetual masses and Gregorian masses.

Mercedes Miscala T. Flores

September 15, 1932 - December 17, 2022