Lourdes Catig Poblete

Lourdes Catig Poblete
May 6, 1924 – October 20, 2023
If you searched for Lourdes Catig Poblete online, you'd learn about the incredible strength and unyielding bravery behind a young woman during wartime. If you had the honor of knowing her- you'd be privileged to her kindness, real talk, sassiness and unforgettable style. If you were part of her large extended family - you'd have a deep understanding of sacrifice, the importance of family and what it means to be loved by the fiercest woman you've ever met.
Lourdes passed on the morning of October 20, 2023, at the age of 99. She was a friend, wife, mother, lola and guerrilla fighter to the Live or Die Unit of the 10th Military District. Lourdes lived an incredible life of love, triumph, trial, dedication, determination and survival. She was born on May 6th,1924 to Frank Castle and Cristeta Escutin Catig, their fourth of ten children. She wed Augusto Alemani Poblete in 1948 and had eight children: Myrna, Byron, Tony, Sylvia, Cyril, Lydia, Lyle and Tyrone.
As a teenager during WWII, Lourdes was recruited as a guerrilla informant and collected Allied propaganda and coded messages on reconnaissance missions. In July of 1944, she was caught by the Japanese and held at the notorious concentration camp Fort Santiago where she endured suffering and horrifying conditions until her escape. She became an informant and key witness after the war, aiding in the war crime trials investigation. She was interviewed by a journalist about her experiences as a POW and in 1948 they were married.
After her husband died, Lourdes' father petitioned for her to immigrate to the United States. In 1970 she arrived in San Francisco - where her family immigrated one at a time. All but her son Byron remained in the Philippines. Lourdes worked at San Francisco General Hospital as medical personnel. For many years she worked the night shift to support her family and remained at San Francisco General Hospital for 18 years. Life swayed and shifted; the family grew with weddings and babies and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In her retirement, Lourdes lived at the famous International Hotel or iHotel for Asian American senior citizens. In a newsletter from the On Lok Montgomery Center, they said, "Not many 85-year-olds have the energy of Lourdes, who dresses to the nines and has a real zest for life. We are so lucky to have Lourdes in our lives."
Later in life, Lourdes told her story of POW survival and triumph firsthand to multiple authors and through in-person interviews. More than 70 years after her wartime service, Lourdes was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor - the highest award bestowed by the United States Congress to express national appreciation for distinguished achievements. Notably, she has also been mentioned in NBC News, The Bataan Legacy Project and the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies at UC Davis. Her WWII experiences were also captured in the book, Philippines' Resistance – The Last Allied Stronghold in the Pacific.
Lourdes is survived by her children, Myrna Poblete, Tony Poblete (married to Chato Poblete), Sylvia Bugarin (married to Tony Bugarin), Lydia Pugay (married to Nick Pugay), Lyle Poblete, Tyrone Poblete (married to Aleigha) and her siblings Salvasion Ignacio (married to Eddie Ignacio), Elisio Catig and Francisco Catig Jr. She is also survived by nearly 50 grand and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Augusto and their sons, Byron and Cyril.
"Being alive, and being with the family and enjoying life once more at my age, at 91, I'm ready to go."