Conchita Diego Vergara

Conchita Diego Vergara was born in Baliwag, Bulacan in The Philippines on December 7, 1945, which is the same day as the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She was the middle child of five siblings, whose parents were hardworking farmers. Mom would recall and describe many stories of carefree times on her parents' farm. She was fortunate to have two loving aunts who were childless and raised and loved Conchita as their very own child. They even funded her entire college education. She made wise use of her time in college and completed her bachelor's degree in business administration in 3 years at the Philippine College of Commerce. While in college, she joined various social, athletic (volleyball and Track & Field), and dance (folk & ballet) groups in college. During her senior year she and her college dance group was asked by first lady Imelda Marcos to perform at the Philippine embassy in Spain, in order to showcase traditional Filipino dances for the Spanish people. She stayed in Spain performing for one month funded by the Filipino government.
At the young age of 18 she married our father, Amado Vergara, and was married for 56 years to Conchita until his death in 2020. Conchita was also an eager traveler and began her travel history accompanying my father on his many business trips throughout the Philippine Islands and Asia. Of course her biggest travel adventure was to immigrate to USA in 1971, taking with her two children, Cony and Criselda. She landed a job with Bank of America as an administrative assistant and found time to pursue and eventually obtain her MBA from Pace University in NYC, all the time being a full-time parent with young children. Conchita rose the competitive ranks of corporate banking to eventually become one of Bank of America's regional vice presidents, a position that brought both significant positives and negatives. Her time at Bank of America allowed my father and her to travel the world, particularly Europe. She enjoyed the NYC Opera and attended many Broadway performances. She spent 25+ years at Bank of America, until her eventual retirement. Mom's nervous energy did not allow her to stay retired for long, as she wanted to be a valued contributor to society. She took a position at US Bank, where she managed financial transactions worth millions to hundreds of millions of dollars. She worked until the last 8 months of her life.
Mom embraced Catholicism and its teachings. Upon her retirement, she became more involved in her local parish. Three months before her terminal diagnosis she made a religious pilgrimage for two weeks to religious meccas in the Middle East, with stops at Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth. She gave back to her community in many other ways. She participated and organized many fund-raising events, particularly with Special Olympics, and financially sponsored several children. She was a weekly church goer until her eventual debilitation over these last 8 months. She was the Uber driver for several elderly parishioners, who relied on Conchita to bring them to church every Sunday.
For enjoyment, Conchita continued her love of dancing by plunging headlong into competitive ballroom dancing. Her most memorable competition involved a trip to Russia, and the unforgettable experience she had. Conchita's roots, as a child of farmers, were exemplified in her green thumb. She was an avid and skilled gardener, and can grow anything from seeds. She grew flowers, vegetables, and even tropical plants, such as papaya at her Florida home. Conchita loved to entertain and held many gatherings in her homes with lifelong friends. In fact, she is the last survivor of her life-long friend cohort. My sister and I remember many social events, where Filipino food was abundant and singing old songs were enjoyed by all. She was an excellent cook and many neighborhood parties ended with take-home Filipino food for many happy neighbors.
Conchita loved and savored life. She truly had a life worth lived. She is survived by her daughter (Criselda), son (Cunegundo), grandchildren (Daniel, Leander, Chiu Yen and Leslee), Son-in-law (Richard), daughter-in-law (Fei) and nieces (Lilia, Christina, Marybeth, and Marylou) along with their spouses and children.