Reverend Lydia Ganaden Cordaro

The Reverend Lydia Ganaden Cordaro was born on November 19, 1941, in Baguio City, Philippines. Her parents were Salvador and Rufina Ganaden. Salvador was a minister and part-time miner, and Rufina was a seamstress. Lydia had two sisters, Fe and Priscilla, and two brothers, Andres and Salvador Jr.
Tragedy struck her family during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines when her father was killed while on a forced-work detail by the Japanese. Her mother struggled to raise the five children.
Lydia was an enthusiastic participant in the United Church of Christ from an early age. At the age of thirteen she was traveling by herself to nearby villages to teach Sunday School. After high school, when her sister Fe married a minister, Lydia helped her sister keep house and grow her brother-in-law's church.
Lydia's enthusiastic work in the Church, caught the attention of the district bishop and she was given a scholarship to attend college. She attended the Ellinwood College for Girls and eventually received a bachelor's degree in Christian Education from Philippine Christian University in 1972.
While working in the church in the Philippines, Lydia met Robert and June Winslow of Hutchinson, Kansas. Robert (Bob) was in the Navy, stationed at San Miguel Base. The Winslow's took Lydia under their wings as a foster daughter. With the Winslow's help, Lydia was able to travel to the United States to attend Wesley Theological Seminary, in Washington, DC. Lydia lived with the Winslow's in Washington while attending seminary.
Lydia earned a Master of Religious Education degree in 1976 and a Master of Divinity Degree in 1978 from Wesley. On May 7, 1978, Lydia was ordained into the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She also earned a certificate of Clinical Pastoral Education while working at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington.
As a minister, Lydia served churches in Kansas and Iowa. While serving a church in Hoisington, Kansa, Lydia married Richard Cordaro, a teacher and physicist, on November 5, 1988. In 1991, Lydia and Richard moved to Atlanta where Lydia helped her nephews and nieces as they pursued their careers and built their families.
In 2012, Lydia and Richard moved to Hutchinson, Kansas to be with Robert and June Winslow in their later years. They became members of Park Place Christian Church in Hutchinson.
Lydia was preceded in death by: her parents; brother, Andres Ganaden; sisters, Prescilla Hiett, and Fe Mejica (Joe); a sister-in-law, Choling Ganaden; nieces, Evelyn Hadwin and Ruth Ganaden; nephew, Elvis Ganaden; and foster father, Robert Winslow.
Survivors include: her husband, Richard; brother, Salvador Ganaden Jr., Philippines; sister-in-law, Tina Ganaden, Philippines; brother-in-law James Cordaro, Ridgecrest, CA. Foster family: mother, June Winslow; brother, Wayne Winslow (Donna) all of Hutchinson; sister, Roberta Wayne (Roger), Ellsworth, WI; brother, Donald Winslow (Tina), Normandy, TN; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial service will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, January 2, 2023, at Park Place Christian Church with Reverend Dr. Kim Biery officiating. Friends may sign the book from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Memorials are suggested to Kansas Disciples of Christ, in care of Elliott Mortuary, 1219 N. Main St., Hutchinson, KS 67501. Click here to view the memorial service.