Blogiversary: 10/2/2013

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Jacquelyn Marie Arcala


Jacquelyn "Jacki" Marie Arcala of Long Beach, California was born August 3, 1949 in Detroit, Michigan.  She passed away July 25, 2022 at the home of her daughter in Lancaster, California.  She was the fourth child born to Mamerto Agan Arcala and Lenore Evelyn (nee Barron). 

Jacki was a nurse and loved to cook and travel.  She especially loved holidays with her family.

She was predeceased by her parents as well as her siblings, Michael Hipol, Thomas Arcala Sr. and Judith Erick.  

She is survived by her daughter Victoria Reyes (Johnny), her grandchildren Alyssandra Puga; Michael, Damian, and Dominic Reyes; and great-grandchildren Natalie and Natasha Cota.  She is also survived by her brother Barry Arcala of Tucson, Arizona and her sister Joyce Sims (Roosevelt) of Oak Park, Michigan, as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends around the world.


Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Filipino Ancestry



My Filipino family tree basically stopped at my great-grandfather, Bartolome Arcala.  I found the baptismal record for my great-uncle Hilarion "Pedro" Arribas Arcala.  He was born October 19, 1893 and christened October 21, 1893.  It lists Bartolome Arcala as his father, and on another record, Bartolome is also listed as "Felipe."  Felipe is most likely his baptismal name.  It lists Narcisa Arribas as his mother (her last name was erroneously spelled Ribas).  

Bartolomé Agan Arcala 

Bartolome's parents, my 2nd great-grandparents were documented as his father Angel Arcala (which I previously had as a female ancestor) and his mother Antonia Agan.  This means Bartolome's middle name was Agan.  And, he did have an accent mark on the ending E of his first name.

Narcisa Alcancion Arcala (Arribas)

Narcisa's parents, my 2nd great-grandparents were listed as her father Feliciano Arribas and her mother Feliciana Alcancion.  This means Narcisa's middle name was Alcancion.  

Hilarion's God Parents

At his baptism were Pete's God Parents.  His Godfather was named Bartolomé Argallon. His Godmother was Eugenia Flores.  

*Documentation coming soon.

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Wind-Up Toys


When I was 5 years old and met my older siblings, Sammie and Brian, for the first time, I remember their dad, William "Bill" Howard Kearns, told them to take me to the "treasure chest." It was a drawer full of wind-up toys, and I could pick one out.  I was in awe when I saw the amount of toys in the drawer. It was a great ice-breaker to let me choose a toy.

I used to love visiting my great aunt Betty (Margaret Arcala née Ross) and great uncle Tony (Antonio Arribas Arcala) because aunt Betty had a collection of wind-up mice that would run across the table or hop along.

All my life I told myself, I'd collect wind-up toys for my future grandbabies and other small children to take as a parting gift.  Wind-up toys are hard to find these days, but I'm so glad my husband, Trevor Michael Dillard, loved that idea when I proposed it to him.  He's going to be a grandfather in a couple months and I can't wait to one day tell our grandbabies to go pick a toy.