Adolfo Rito Portades Sr.'s Obituary
Adolfo Rito Portades Sr. was born on June 24, 1932 in Hilo, Hawaii. Demetrio Portades was his Father. Graciana Rito Portades was his Mother.Born as a U.S. Citizen and being the youngest sibling in his large family, he didn’t get a chance to go to school like his brothers and sister. He kept himself busy by helping around the house, doing his chores, no time to learn how to read or write. As he got older, he left home behind to have a life of his own. He managed to find a way to survive and save money. He was educated through his older siblings, his peers, neighbors and people he helped along the way of his journey. Still learning from their teachings, all the skills of hard labor. During those years he learned how to speak and understand five languages fluently. He got jobs as a house boy, doing laundry, cooking, a janitor, painter, dishwasher, hotel maintenance, a house builder, a carpenter, fixed cars, and taught people the skills he learned from all his jobs.He met his first wife Gliceria Empino in 1952. A year later they got married at civil court in 1953. He had 5 children — 2 girls and 3 boys. One of the girls died at the age of 5. By 1963 he petitioned his whole family from the Philippines to the U.S. A year later his youngest son was born and name it after him – Adolfo Empino Portades, Jr.Even though he worked so hard to raise his family in the US, he always found time to go to church on Saturdays to worship and serve the Lord as a Seventh-Day Adventist. By 1988, his first wife died at the age of 59. Two years later after mourning the death of his wife, he decided to get married again on June 24, 1990 to Leticia Bautista.To his close friends and church members, and all the people that he knows call him “Utol” – “Rudy,” his grandchildren “Lolo”. Adolfo was a kindhearted, generous and very helpful to anyone who calls or needs help any time of the day or night. You can depend on him to show up to finish the job with no charge or accept any money from them. His only request was to give him food and water. He was a sincere, humble, loving, and devoted man, father, and grandfather. With a great sense of humor, full of energy and laughter, always smiling, laughing, joking around. He loved to watch action movies and comedy, laughing out loud when he was watching his favorite T.V. shows or DVDs, letting people know that he was having fun, and enjoying himself.His life shortened when he got sick and ended up in the hospital on September 5, 2019. He kept going back and forth to the hospital for a long time, not getting any better. He passed away on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at 6:40 AM in Kaiser Hospital San Leandro, CA.He lived his life to the fullest. He enjoyed traveling and seeing the world with his wife, family, and close friends during his retirement years until the age of 87.
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