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October has a strong impact on our family as three members passed away in October ? an elder sister on Oct. 8, 1999, our mother on Oct. 9, 1994, and recently our only brother on Oct. 10, 2009.
After going through dialysis twice a week for two years due to dysfunctional kidneys and a very bad infection on both legs, which were accidentally burned and eventually amputated, our brother Eugene passed away peacefully. He was 65 years old and single but he had a huge family visiting him at the hospital and attending his seven-day wake at Sacred Heart Chapel.
Eugene was a volleyball coach at the University of San Carlos for men, women, and boys for almost four decades. From 1970 to 1998, he juggled his time working at the Philippine Airlines office in Mactan in the morning and coaching volleyball at USC in the afternoon till early evening. He loved volleyball so much that he decided to retire from PAL in 1998 to become a full-time PE teacher and did intensive coaching till he retired from USC in 2006.
His passing brought together generations of volleyball players, some of whom became national figures, as Eugene trained them to become high-caliber players. From their testimonies during the wake, we heard so many things about our brother only they had known, for he spent all his energies on volleyball and the wellbeing of his players.
For us, his sisters, we remember him as a teaser ? he had seven sisters to tease and play pranks on. He had a way of calling people, which was funny and appropriate. He was very direct and vocal with his opinions and feelings. He made friends easily so much so that our neighbors at Villa del Rio in Bacayan also came in droves during his wake in addition to his colleagues at PAL.
He was very selective in his choice of varsity players ? beauty, which includes height and the right figure (for both male and female) and intelligence. He took care of teaching them volleyball as long as they maintained their academic scholarship in addition to the athletic scholarship. Discipline was a necessary virtue. Players were prohibited from developing intimate relations among themselves. Girlfriends or boyfriends of players were not allowed to watch volleyball practices. These were among the stories I gathered from their testimonies.
Eugene and I were the only ones left in the Philippines since our siblings left for abroad in the 1960s and 1970s and we pitched our careers in our own different ways. He was enshrined in the Cebu Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. One of his players did a write up on him in The Freeman, dated Oct. 12, 2009, calling him a ?legendary coach.?
His remains were cremated last Oct. 17, just as he wished and yesterday his ashes were interred at the Palazzo Laterano columbary in Golden Haven, just as he requested during his last moments.
Up to the last moments, Eugene?s world was in volleyball. Even when he could hardly walk because of the severe infection in his legs, he would tell his caregiver to dress up for they were going to USC to watch the volleyball game. Even at the ICU, he would keep asking if his players were complete. He kept asking for the time and the day ? for he was always on call for any game.
On Oct. 18, the day after his cremation, the players (past and present) launched an exhibition game at the USC Main gymnasium, which also served as a kind of reunion of the USC volleyball players. Dubbed ?Volleyball Cares for Sir Eugene,? it was initially to help defray his medical expenses when he was in the ICU, but since he passed away they made it a fitting tribute to Eugene. To quote Fr. Louis Punzalan, who officiated at the Mass at the gym, ?Life is like volleyball,? and I fully agree.
On behalf of Eugene?s family, I would like to express my gratitude to all the players who kept me company during the wake, the PAL colleagues of Eugene, our neighbors at Villa del Rio, Bacayan, and most especially the faculty of USC Boys High School, now called USC North Campus, who continuously supported his dialysis expenses and provided moral support even when he had already retired, and Fr. Roderick Salazar for concelebrating twice at the novena mass, and Fr. Manayon for saying the novena mass twice.
Our special thanks to our cousin, Dr. Agnes Villarin-Sanchez, who always stayed at Eugene?s bedside, provided us with medical explanations about his condition despite her hectic schedule, and managed the housekeeping matters during the wake. We are very grateful.
