Loreta De Nieva Castanaris

Loreta de Nieva Castanaris, also known as Loring to her relatives, was born on April 25, 1934 in Pangasinan, Philippines to Ponciano de Nieva and Lauriana Albarida. She was the fifth of six children, the youngest girl in the family, with siblings, Irene (Trining), Teodorico, Sr. (Eding), Benita (Benit), Maria (Mary) and Gaudencio, Sr. (Ensiong), all of whom preceded her in death.

She was a sickly child growing up, but she overcame her frailties as an adult. Trained in cosmetology, she worked at a beauty shop in Dagupan City. In 1960, she married Esteban Palaming. In the early 1960's, they moved from Pangasinan to Manila and she started her own beauty shop, Loreta Beauty Salon, in Mandaluyong, Rizal, which was very successful. In 1968, she moved to the United States and settled in Los Angeles, California. In 1970, she divorced and later was briefly married to Harold W. Ramsey from 1971 to 1973. In 1975, she moved to the South Bay and married Egleserio Castanaris, who passed away in 1982. In October 1981, she was able to achieve her dream of owning a house. In June 1985, Loreta became a naturalized citizen of the United States, an achievement of which she was very proud. Over the years, Loreta had worked as a personal assistant/companion to a retired opera singer, a clerk at Penn Life Insurance as well as a soldering assembler at Ungar Industries, but she continued to provide haircuts/perms and manicures/pedicures for her friends well after she retired.

Loreta was a loving and devoted mother. She sacrificed much, in large part as a single mom, to send her only child to catholic school from 1st through 12th grade to get a solid academic and religious education. She also did her best to send money and goods to her relatives in the Philippines whenever possible.
Her favorite hobby was gardening. She had the greenest thumb around and often worked in her front and back yards, cultivating her plants, flowers, vegetables and fruit trees. She enjoyed the company of her friends while shopping, dining out or sightseeing locally. She also loved taking care of her dogs, Maxie, Daisy and Rusty.

After two stomach surgeries in March 2018, she suffered a debilitating stroke on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018. She was later diagnosed in October 2018 with Stage 4 cancer that started in the colon and metastasized to her liver; immediately thereafter she went into hospice care. As she neared death, she hung on tenaciously; the medical staff was astounded at how strong her heart and will were despite all the pain medications given. She passed away peacefully on November 2, 2018, at the age of 84, in the comfort of her home in Long Beach, California with her daughter and son-in-law at her side.
Loreta is survived by her daughter, Wilhelmina Palaming Estrella, her son-in-law, Roland Estrella and his daughter, Amylyn Estrella, along with Loreta's last remaining first cousins, Benjamina Duterte and Renato Calimquim, numerous nieces and nephews, grand and great-grand nieces and nephews, close family friends and her two dogs, Daisy and Rusty.

All funeral arrangements are under the direction of Forest Lawn at 4471 Lincoln Avenue in Cypress. The viewing will be on Friday, November 16th from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm PST in the Serenity Room on the 2nd floor of the mortuary building, with the Rosary Vigil at 6:00 pm PST. The funeral service, officiated by Father George Florendo, will be on Saturday, November 17th at 9:00 am PST at the Church of our Fathers Chapel at Forest Lawn Cypress, followed by the burial. Pallbearers include Roland Estrella, Edwin Duterte, Vernon Villanueva, Daryl Bareng, Valentin Egipto, and Florencio Kabamalan.

Thank you to the countless individuals who helped Loreta along her journey in life. She was a fearless, devoted, warm and generous human being – traits that we should all espouse in our daily lives. She will be missed by many.

If you wish to make a memorial donation in Loreta's name, you can donate to the following charity: https://fightcolorectalcancer.org/. Please have the notification email sent to wilseye@gmail.com.