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BORN
1944
DIED
2020
FUNERAL HOME
Donato Pison III Obituary
On Thursday, July 16, 2020, the Pison family lost their beloved husband, father, grandpa, brother, cousin, uncle, and friend Donato “Sonny” Pison III.
Sonny was born in Bantayan Island, Cebu, Philippines on May 23, 1944. After WWII, the family moved back to their hometown of Iloilo City, where Sonny grew up and eventually raised his three children. In the early 1980s, Sonny decided to migrate to the United States, settling in Los Angeles area with his family.
After running his own trucking business, Sonny enjoyed his retirement with frequent travels to IloIlo, a city he loves dearly, enjoying sunsets in Boracay with a cold San Miguel beer, trips to other Asian countries, fun times playing golf, backyard barbecues, dining out with friends and family. He enjoyed spending time with his grandkids, helping his granddaughter Alexis with her math and reading homework, and watching cartoons with Andre.
Sonny loved spending time with his siblings and meeting his friends and cousins for daily walks around Esplanade, enjoying a cup of coffee, and simply hanging out. Sonny enjoyed cooking, maintaining his pool and lawn, giving swimming lessons, walking the dogs, taking care of his aquarium, wholeheartedly helping people, and being funny around his many nephews and nieces.
Sonny is survived by his wife Theresa “Pangga”, his children, Peter and Arjho, Tisha, Donato IV and Pearl, his grandkids, Alexis, Andre, and Steeven, his siblings (along with their husbands/wives and their children), Rosalinda, Victor, Cynthia, Edgardo, and Delia, and his many cousins, nephews, and nieces.
Memories and Condolences
for Donato Pison III
26 Entries
Bernard Lachica
December 16, 2020
Dear tito Sonny,
I miss you so much! You are one of the best! sang wala na si papa you were always calling me and letting me feel that you are always here for me and that was one of the reason how I survived depression. Now that your are gone, I did not only lose the best uncle/grandfather, yet I also lost my 2nd father. I love you stay happy up there. Watch over us especially tita pang.
Marilu Lachica Hoffman
September 10, 2020
Thank you Tito Sonny for your forever presence, guidance and support. You were always the first to be there in tough times. Often the first face I see when I wake up after my many surgeries. Thank you for my cherished childhood memories, the summers we spent in Iloilo. For being the pioneer and the stepping stone in our life in the US. There is no one as kind and caring as you. We miss you already so much.
Marilu Lachica Hoffman
Marie Lachica
September 7, 2020
Thank you Tito Son for all your genuine generosity, kindness and just such a naturally good person who will always go out of your way to help others. When I miss you I just go back and look at our text messages it helps ease the pain...though it will be selfish of me not to rejoice for you are in God’s Hands and perfectly happy. You will forever be remembered, missed, loved. You have made a great mark in our lives.
Gingging, & Michael
Bammy, Andy & Mandy
Trina Pison Soria
September 7, 2020
Tito/Lolo Son.. i will never forget that day when you surprised visit me in my work place back in Bacolod just to encourage me to go the Land of the Free to fulfill my dreams. Thank you so much Tito! I will forever be grateful for that and all the good deeds you shared with us. Thank you for being a good Lolo to the kids too. A Million thanks! We will surely miss you especially on Mayo Uno gatherings. Please say ‘Hi’ to all the pisons there, especially Papa.. inom na kamo da!!
Gadoy & Tina Arancillo
September 5, 2020
When Sonny is with us “sunny” days is here. We look forward to his yearly vacations here in Iloilo..he would call us first thing when he arrives..hearing his lively & eager voice inviting us for lunch or dinner..he would regale us with stories of LA, about common friends and we”literally picked up where we left off” from his last visit. On weekends he would pick us up and we would look for and try out new restaurants...But the most memorable times were when we shared what we call our “Covid dinners” in the house, he would come with his supply of a case of beer and have an early dinner with his favorite soup which we “Sonny’s Soup”(he insisted to have the recipe so he can cook it for the family when goes home)...we shared “ dangling conversations” & laughed & giggled a lot..we had fun despite the pandemic, he would rush home to beat the 8 o’clock curfew...we look forward to these dinners...we had our last lunch during his birthday two days before his departure...we were sad when he finally went home because we truly miss company...Goodbye Son, you will always be our BFF...We love you & thank you for the memories...Godspeed..
Dency Nakazawa
September 3, 2020
Dear Tito Sonny, You are such a good and generous person. Thank you for all your kindness. You are and will always be in my thoughts and prayers. You will be sorely missed. With much love and sympathy.
Ed Defensor
August 31, 2020
Sonny was one of the great guys I knew and befriended. He was generous, soft-hearted, pleasant to be with and a beautiful soul. I never heard him say bad things about anybody, nor gave malice on anyone. He always remembered his friends and always brought them things they liked. Like every time he arrived from the States he would always bring me my favorite chocolates, pink salmon, and anything else he would remember. He was a loyal member of our cocktails group and would always drive home other members of our group who had no ride. His friends always came first even in his business dealings. I will sorely miss the guy.
Gab Jover
August 30, 2020
Tito Sonny knew how to live, took care of his family, always kind and generous to everyone. He always reminded me of Lolo Peter. Now is see Tito in Bai, Tetet and Fourth and I suppose that’s all there is to life
Thank you for letting me ride with Bai, Tet and Fourth to and from school in that old push start green jeep when I was little. And thank you for all the advice and guidance over cold bottles of SMB when I grew older.
Thank you for Bai, Tet and Fourth who are brothers and sister to me
Emilie Gandhi
August 30, 2020
Sonny , you will forever be in our hearts. I was one of the last classmate found in our 2011 reunion. You took the initiative of sending me pictures of our classmates so I will recognize them as faces change as we aged. Thank you so much for all you have done for class 61.
Emilie Gandhi
Minda Briones
August 30, 2020
Sonny, to your classmates & friends in high school, you are helpful, humble, friendly, full of humor, and very supportive to our UPIC high school 61 mini re-unions in Iloilo & here in US. From his house in Cerritos, you would pick up our classmates Roming Saluta in Anaheim , & Teofilo Zapanta in Baldwin Park to bring them to
my house in Thousand Oaks, just so we can have mini-reunion. I asked Sonny how long it would take him to go back to Cerritos, he answered ' sometime 2 hr depending on the traffic'. Sonny never complained, he was happy to do it to facilitate friends to get together. What a guy!!!
We love you Sonny & we will not forget you. Your classmate & friend.....Minda Briones
Oly Mutuc
August 29, 2020
Rest In Peace our dear Klasmyt Sonny .
Cooper Estrella
August 29, 2020
You have been my light in the beginning of my journey in the States tito Sonny. All those times you were there for me when i was in my lowest. We may not be blood related but you have always treated me as one of yours. I will never forget you dearest tito, you will always be in my heart. I love you and thank you for everything.
Dondi Pison Escolar
August 13, 2020
Tito Sonny - We remembered our trip to Garin Farms where we all zip-lined and we all had a taste of heaven. May you enjoy the rest of your days in the real Heaven. Dondi and Gigit
Franklin Pison SyCip
July 26, 2020
Tito Sonny, you will be missed during May 1 festivities, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year get-togethers. Our Pacquiao fights togetherness as well as our golf games. Rest now Tito Sonny and welcome to the kingdom of heaven. Please say hello to Mom & Dad, Lolo Damian & Lola Salud, Lolo Peter & Lola Coroy, and to the other lolos and lolas.
Donna Pison Sebastian
July 26, 2020
I will always remember your kind heart and positive disposition. Rest In Peace, Tito Sonny. You will be missed.
A life well-lived.
July 26, 2020
Martin Pison
July 26, 2020
Tito Sonny was the one who taught me, at a very young and tender age, what "Ladies' Choice" really meant. And it wasn't mayonnaise. I still remember him pull me to the center of all the relatives during our May 1 family reunion, and ask me what "Ladies' Choice" meant, and like an obedient dog, I would touch my body part where he taught me it was located, upon which the entire Dako Balay (the "Big House," our ancestral house in Iloilo) would roar with laughter. Then he would give me a coin. Looking back, he was the first to teach me Pavlov's conditioning after all!
Always the funny man, a pleasure to be around with. He drove us around LA, and even drove me and my friend to Alimodian, Iloilo, to help me look for a ginunting. A couple of years after visiting him and his family in LA in 2008, I saw him in Iloilo with a brown envelope. He handed it to me and told me that he kept my son's (then just 5) scribblings and drawings when we were there. They are still with me. Now, who would do that but a good soul? A capital fellow everyone will miss.
jung pison
July 26, 2020
Tito sonny was very generous and accomodating, when we went to LA july 2013 he told me to visit them at cerritos and i told tito that i got some friends with me and he said to me kadto kamo dre no problem and even over one his room to stay..tito son we will surely miss your jokes and laughter...
Anna (Pison) Stanford
July 26, 2020
We will miss the May 1 celebrations at your home, Tito Sonny! Thank you for always making our family feel welcome. ---From Anna, Blair, Mara and Ian
Nico Lachica
July 25, 2020
Tito Son was a kind, gracious and very accommodating uncle. Most of my childhood summers were spent visiting my cousins, Tita Pang, staying in their house in Iloilo and those were great memories. I remembered when a few of us cousins from Bacolod were vacationing in the early 80's and were instructed not to go out and ventured outside the main road, however we somehow ended up chatting, drinking coca cola outside with the security guards at Hotel del Rio, all of a sudden, Danny the electrician, all around house helper mentioned, " si Toto Sonny tu ang nag labay pero I think wala nya ta nakita", pero the hope suddenly evaporated when he turned around his motorcycle. I recalled not too many words were spoken we just all walk back to the house- ang iban na mga salawayon nag pauli sa Bacolod and ako ya wala gin akigan nag lantaw lang ko ya the re-run of the epic fight of Wilfredo Benitez and Tommy Hearns, even dri sa America kung mag ginahod kami dra ni Fouth kung gab i and sometimes upod ko pa mga work friends ko I don't recall him coming out and tell us to tone it down pero kabalo ko damo na di sila gina laygayan pirmi (hahaha). Sang nag abot kami dri sa States sang 1990, first time ko kasakay sa taas2 na 18 wheeler na truck. It was so cool to be so up high and stare down the other motorists. He showed me how to use a paint gun- gin pinturahan ko ang fence and kitchen cabinet doors and I have to say it was a feeling of a great accomplishment for a seventeen year old. Thank you for not liking the harsh weather of Chicago, pag apas nila Mommy dri sa America tani didto man sila tupa and I will not be able to enjoy this beautiful Los Angeles weather. A few months ago when Emma called and mentioned na si Tito Sonny dri matulog sa blay kay buas aga sya masakay balik Iloilo, hambal ko pa bakli tu sya sang faborito nya na dried tapa para sa iya pamahaw before his trip, it is hard to believe na last nya nato kadto sa blay sa Bacolod and see Mom. Gin lantaw ko pa sa cctv kag gin sigurado na gin preparar iya pamahaw. Jong and I were happy that we were able to attend your grand 70th birthday sa Iloilo. My siblings and I were happy to share many great memories with you. Thank you for everything- you will be dearly miss. Nico
Levi Gustilo
July 25, 2020
In loving memory of a wonderful person. We will miss you always.
Rose Pison
July 25, 2020
I will miss how Sonny would make us laugh whenever he and the Pedro Pison brothers and Dicky Pison would have breakfast in our house. He would always ask if "Elvira's Kitchen is already open." And whenever he would see me prepare the plates and cups for their meal, he would say "Ay, pabay-i na lang kami. Ok na kami diri." Ma miss ka namon gid Sonny!
Ruth Pison
July 25, 2020
Tatay, I'll miss you gid-- will miss how you would tell me and Tet to stop laughing so hard kay batian sang neighbor (in LA) or the room beside ours (in Smallville 21). Will miss how you patiently allowed Tet to make you drag her suitcase of pasalubongs for us. Thank you for being a brother to Teodoro and Rose and a father to me and Mart... And a Lolo to Diego. Thank you for looking after Dad's health and squealing whenever something amiss happens to him. May you have a great time watching us from above:) Love love
July 25, 2020
I will miss how he made us laugh every time the Pedro Pison brothers and Dicky Pison would have breakfast at the house. He would always ask if "Elvira's Kitchen" is already open. Whenever he saw me prepare the plates and cups for their meal, he would say "Ay, pabay-i na lang kami a. Ok kami diri." Ma miss ka gid namon, Sonny! ROSE PISON
Ted Pison
July 25, 2020
I will miss our walking days and his morning visits . He was always there to support our family with his jokes and laughter because he was always the "bearer of bad news." He introduced me to the American way of life when I first went to the US. I stayed with him and the family in LA and they took me around to the Getty's Museum, to Downton LA, and I think, even to Las Vegas.
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