Encarnacion Bernardo Santiago

Encarnacion Bernardo Santiago passed away on Sunday October 9, 2022 at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital surrounded by family. Encarnacion is survived by her husband, two children, daughter-in-law, son-“in-law”, two grandchildren, as well as her five surviving siblings.

Encarnacion, nicknamed “Nene”, immigrated from the Philippines to the United States in 1974 and eventually settled down in Addison, Illinois. Her early career started as a nurse in Melrose Park, but she decided to leave the profession a few years after having her first child. She approached running a family like a nurse. Open any cabinet in the house and everything was arranged in perfect order, each space and zone a specific use, each cabinet fully stocked for any situation…especially if that situation was a party. She loved having a house packed with people, which probably came from being the oldest of eight children. A responsibility she took in stride to be a mediator, a counselor, and an open ear. Nene strived to be there for all the people she loved and cared about.

Nene didn’t know how to cook when she got married, but decided fastidiously to teach herself and even excitedly took a few classes at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school. There is no doubt that in another life she would have become an artist, world renowned pastry chef, and Michelin Star culinary phenom. Even though that isn’t something she wished for, she would have loved it. Nene absolutely loved making people happy with her food, flower arrangements, handmade cards, music, and paintings. She was a loving wife, an amazing mom, a wonderful mother-in-law, a doting grandmother, a wise older sister, and a faithful member of Faith Alliance Bible Church. You were lucky to have known her, but even luckier if you’d had one of her cakes.

Encarnacion’s death occurred a day before her seventy-fifth birthday, having done more than most people could have done in three hundred years. The void she leaves in every community she has been a part of can never be filled. She was someone who gave everything she had to make the world a better and kinder place, which now is a little sadder.

Know this: Encarnacion Bernardo Santiago was world-class! The Bernardos, Santiagos, four birds, and a small Chihuahua-Pomeranian dog will fight anyone that thinks otherwise.

A memorial service celebrating Nene’s life will be held on Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 6:30 pm at Faith Alliance Bible Church, 382 S. Mt. Prospect Road, Des Plaines, IL. 

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