Irene Perez Gobenciong

Irene Perez Gobenciong, 53, was a daughter, sister, mother of two, grandmother and a loving girlfriend. Aside from those banal descriptions, she was also our family's rock and savior, much like her father was before her. She wasn't perfect, she made mistakes, but she loved and took care of everyone around her. There's nothing much more that could be said more than that. She always did the best she could for everyone.

It is with VERY heavy heart that after five and a half years of battling cancer, Irene Gobenciong lost her battle against cancer on October 21, 2014.

Irene was born on Sunday, April 16, 1961 to Fidel Gobenciong and Pilar Gobenciong. She had a brother and sister and grew up in the Philippines. She married in 1981 and had her first child, Cristine Tablante in 1982. Her second child, John Christopher Tablante, was born in 1986. She immigrated to United States permanently in 1989, where she ended up raising her children, and meeting the love of her life, Marvin Hughes, in 2013.

Our cancer experience started just over five years ago and it's has been a tumultuous battle since. It started out as stage 4 Appendiceal Cancer, and she went through extensive abdominal surgery that day in May 2009 that turned our world upside down. Since then, she went into remission for a couple of years, developed new friendships and lived life to the fullest - even when cancer returned and tormented her. The best part of her story is eventually meeting the love of her life, who has been by her side non-stop for over a year and a half and shown her the love she truly deserves.

Unfortunately, after months of declining health and increase in her pain, her chemo was stopped as of October 6th and hospice care began. It was a rough couple of weeks for our family and her friends from childhood to work, but we all did our best to spend as much time and make as many memories as we could in that short precious time we had left with our rock.

Approximately 5:35 am on October 21, 2014, Irene took her last breath, surrounded by her loving boyfriend, daughter and son.

There are no words to convey how much sadness fills our hearts, or how great of a loss she is to many, but at least she is no longer fighting a losing battle. Cancer has no hold on her anymore and her spirit is now alive, as it should be, and she is on her way to reunite with her father, Fidel, and God.

Pray for her and her new journey to heaven. Thank you for all your love and support and everything in between.

Remember her beautiful smile and know she can smile big again without the pains of cancer.