Myrna Bryn Pascual

Myrna Pascual, a legal trailblazer and pillar of the Filipino community, died Nov. 25 of natural causes in her Escondido home. She was 73.

As an attorney, she helped found the Golden Hills Mediation Center, which became the San Diego Mediation Center and is now the National Conflict Resolution Center. She served as a small claims court judge for the San Diego Superior Courts. Myrna served as a part-time administrative law judge for the California Office of Administrative Hearings.

Myrna was well-known for her extensive work in the Filipino and legal communities in San Diego. She helped spearhead the creation of the Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego. She worked both for the Legal Aid Society and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Myrna also had a powerful leadership role in the San Diego Filipino community, sponsoring internships and scholarships for students and aiding with an annual debutante ball for Filipino American young women.

Myrna "was loved by everyone. She greeted everyone with a smile and was forthcoming with career advice and support, which meant the world to me as a young Filipino lawyer and inspires me to this day to follow in her footsteps," said Marty Lorenzo, an attorney and Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego board member. Lorenzo said he met Myrna when he was a fledgling attorney, and she served as a beacon for other Filipinos aspiring to enter the legal profession.

"She was such a force of nature down here [in San Diego] empowering junior lawyers to be part of our legal community and our Filipino community at large. She led by example and always came with an abundance of energy and passion that was infectious," he said.

Childhood

Myrna Bryn Pascual was born Jan. 15, 1952, in a remote fishing village in Bilad, Camiling, Philippines. Her younger years were filled with swimming in the town river or climbing mango and guava trees .In 1962, she boarded a military transport ship to cross the Pacific Ocean with her homemaker mother, Severina Cortez, and younger siblings to Alameda, Calif., and then went on by train to Corpus Christi, Texas, to join her father, Moises Ines Pascual, a U. S. Navy cook. Myrna lived for in Imperial Beach, Calif., and attended Southwest Junior High School, Mar Vista and Castle Park High Schools. Later, her father was stationed in Puerto Rico, and Myrna moved with her family to Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station. She attended Roosevelt Roads High School and delivered the salutatorian address during graduation in 1971.

Early Career

She received her bachelor's degree in philosophy from University of California San Diego and her law degree from UC Davis School of Law.

At the beginning of her legal career, she opened a private practice, specializing in immigration and family law, and became part of the leadership group that formed the mediation center. and served on the board of directors of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Association. She joined the Legal Aid Society of San Diego in 1984 as a staff attorney on the Housing and Community Development Team and organizer for its Tenant Organizing Project.

Local Trailblazer

Myrna was a three-term president of the Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego and also served as president of the Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego. She was recognized by the National Asian Pacific Bar Association with its Trailblazer Award. She also twice received the Community Service Award of the San Diego County Bar Association.

Myrna served for 15 years as director of the Community Law School setting up free legal classes co-sponsored by the Filipino American and Pan Asian Lawyers associations.

In 1998 Myrna joined the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a community builder. In 2006 she headed the leadership to establish and incorporate the Housing Opportunities Collaborative that became a HUD national intermediary known as the premier organization in California, providing free legal and credit counseling to distressed homeowners hit by the housing crisis,

She was widely known for her work promoting, mentoring and connecting younger lawyers to training, internships and employment, giving her time and funds. It was her fervent wish that others in the legal community continue that mission, she often said.

At home, Myrna was devoted to her two daughters, Carla and Laura. Although work and commitments were demanding, Myrna always made time to help with homework, scrapbooking, baking sweets and crafting homemade cards with her daughters and later with her granddaughter, Callia.

Myrna is survived by her husband, David Pena, of San Diego; daughters Carla Ann Pena Belden of Oceanside, Calif.; Laura Anne Pena of New Orleans; granddaughter Callia Belden of Oceanside, Calif. and siblings, Mytha Pascual of Laguna Woods, Calif.; Arno Pascual of Lake Forest, Calif., and Psyche Pascual of El Sobrante, Calif.

Memorial services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at:

Cross Connections Church

1675 Seven Oakes Road

Escondido, CA 92026

Flowers can be delivered directly to Cross Connections Church.