Sagrada Roman Ramos

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

-Maya Angelou

When Sagrada Roman Ramos took her last breath in Sacramento, California, she was surrounded by all her children, her husband, and some of her grandchildren. It was a testament to her life that was always about caring for and connecting with people.

There are probably many fond things that people remember about Sagrada, but three of them are most memorable, even to the smallest of children: her laugh, her smile, and her lighthearted demeanor.

Sagrada was born in Tondo, Manila, Philippines and comes from a family of six children. She studied Fashion Design and designed her own Maria Clara dress for her graduation. She married her childhood sweetheart, Amando Calderon Ramos on May 5, 1960 in Pasig, Rizal, Philippines. She was a devoted wife and mother to six children.

She showed her loving commitment to others through her patience, playfulness, and cooking. When her youngest complained of boredom as a child, she would hand her a knife and chopping board and say, "Here, you can help me chop these carrots."

In fact, her hands were always busy. In her eulogy to Sagrada, her oldest remembers how much her mother loved to have her nails impeccably manicured. Sometimes those hands held babies, sometimes they cooked; sometimes those hands were carefully stashing a chocolate bar for later while other times they were quietly picking a lemon from a neighbor's tree as she walked through her neighborhood. However, after a migration to the United States, working various jobs, and having six kids, her hands showed the challenges of her life: calloused (but still manicured!) and strong.

Even through ups and downs, Sagrada maintained a sort of lightness that sent us all an important message: hold your burdens lightly; put them down once in a while. She loved babies and children, perhaps because they brought out that playfulness in her. Even after her own kids were grown up, she was known to say, in casual moments of relaxation at home, "Let's just watch cartoons."

Despite her attitude of play, she was incredibly hardworking. She moved to the United States in 1971 with her husband and their four oldest children. They settled in Santa Cruz, California where they had two more children. She worked at Intel and Lipton over the years on the Westside of Santa Cruz. She was known for bringing her homemade lumpia to work to share with her co-workers at Lipton, which became another way to earn money. In fact, she and her husband turned their lumpia-making into a family business in the mid-70's. She also worked in other factory settings where she performed jobs such as making sails for boats and assembling computers. Truly, her hands were her outlet for productivity, but also for caring. In the 90's she attended Cabrillo Community College so that she could transition into the home health care field and became a caregiver for the elderly.



Sagrada was not only hardworking, but calmly devoted to her values. She and her husband were devout Catholics who attended Holy Cross Church when they were residents of Santa Cruz. She was known to say, "On your birthday, you should go to church and thank God for your life." She truly loved and enjoyed life: she loved to walk by the ocean, play on the swings at the park, socialize with friends and family, sing while doing chores, and dance salsa with her husband. Music so seamlessly moved her throughout the day, most people that knew her could name at least one song she loved to sing as she busied herself around the house or sang to children.

After 28 years in Santa Cruz, Sagrada and Amando's six children had grown up and moved out of the house. She and her husband moved to Sacramento, California where she continued as a CNA and a registered dietitian for the Sacramento City Unified School District.

She is survived by her husband, Amando Ramos, and her six children: Grace Kirk (Steve Kirk), Reynaldo Ramos (Alyssa Ramos), Amando Ramos, Jr. (Helen Ramos), Criselda Steere, Irene Ramos, and Jacqueline Bullard (Anthony Bullard).

She leaves her grandchildren: Charlene Ramos, Christiane Del Monte, Natalie Ramos Smith, Tabitha Kirk, Samantha Kirk, Joshua Kirk, Nicholas Steere, Tanya Bucher, Nikko Ramos, Ariana Bullard, and Damen Bullard. She also leaves her great-grandchildren: Ava Harms, Olivia Del Monte, Mateo Del Monte, Kennedy Smith, and Theo Smith.

She also leaves her siblings: Flora Care, Asuncion Aldip, Eugenio Roman, Jr., and Victoria Roman-Reithknecht.

Her brother, Juanito Roman, preceded Sagrada in death in 2019.

Sagrada was laid to rest at Holy Cross Cemetery, 2271 7th Ave., Santa Cruz, CA 95062 on May 9, 2023.