Grandpa Joe   The world lost a cultural treasure last June when Jose Flores, passed away. I first met him a day after his 105th birthday. Jose Flores was born on June 12, 1898, Philippine Independence Day. Grandpa Joe, as he was called by his friends and relatives, had lived in three centuries:1800’s, 1900’s and then in the new millennium. His life story was as interesting as his life was long. It chronicled the struggles and perseverance of Filipinos from the Spanish era in the Philippines to the life of a Manong in America.   My wife’s colleague in Senator Chesbro’s Napa office faxed her a Press Advisory for a birthday party at the Veterans Home in Yountville, just north of Napa. The birthday celebrant was Jose Flores and he was celebrating his 105th birthday. And according to the Press Advisory, was Filipino. Belle, and I missed the birthday party but made an appointment with him the day after his birthday. He was already waiting for us when we arrived at his ward for the interview.   We were greeted by Grandpa  Joe, who was wearing a black sweater, and looked much younger than his 105 years. “People think I’m only sixty,” smiled Grandpa Joe as he pointed out his smooth skin. As I began the interview, it was obvious that Grandpa Joe had a great memory and was very articulate as he recounted his life story.   Grandpa Joe was born in Calapan, Mindoro, Philippines, on June 12, 1898, the day that Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent from Spain. His father was a Spaniard who went to the Philippines to fight against Filipinos in the Philippine Revolution. His father married a Filipina and they had only one child, Jose. The Flores family experienced the brutality of the Spanish rulers first-hand. His mother and father were exiled to the island of Guam for speaking out against the Catholic Church. If not for the Mangyan tribe on Mindoro, who hid he and his grandmother in the mountains, he too would have been exiled to Guam. He never saw his parents again. As a result, Grandpa Joe was raised by his grandmother until she died when he was 10 years old. As a child he remembers the eruption of Taal Volcano in 1904 and Filipinos fighting with bolos during the Philippine American War.   When Grandpa Joe was twelve years old, his uncle brought him to America as a cabin boy on the ship. As soon as they arrived in California they “jumped ship.”  His uncle brought him to the town of Colusa in the Central Valley. In Colusa, young Grandpa Joe attended school while his uncle worked for a white family. As he got older, he found the types of jobs that recruited Filipinos as employees. He worked as busboy, waiter and cook in various restaurants, and at Universal Studios in Hollywood. “When I was seventeen, I wanted to be in the movies, but could only get a job at the studio,” said Grandpa Joe.   Not only did he get a job at the studio but he was hired by the Marx Brothers as their houseboy in their Beverly Hills home. “My main duty was to take their Grandmother to the Jewish market on Temple Street every weekend,” said Grandpa Joe as his eyes twinkled at the memory. “Grandma liked me to go with her because she spoke broken English and mine was good,” Grandpa Joe added.   In the 1920’s and 1930’s Filipino boxers would draw thousands to their matches at the Olympic Auditorium. “My favorite boxer was Pancho Villa, the world flyweight champion. The Marx Brothers loved boxing and especially Filipino boxers. We would always go to the Olympic Auditorium together to watch Filipino boxers. The Marx brothers always rooted for the Filipinos,” said Grandpa Joe.   In 1920, Grandpa Joe was proud to became an American citizen. This was before many of the anti-Filipino laws were passed including the right of U.S. citizenship. In 1925 he met a young Swiss woman at a dance club in Santa Monica who would later become his wife. The only time Grandpa Joe had a hard time remembering anything was when I asked him what his wife’s name was. With a chuckle he said her name was Alice. “Alice was a very sweet girl, like a Filipino girl,” recounted Grandpa Joe as his mind seemed to gather the memories once again. Alice was a governess for the children of Hollywood movie stars like Mary Pickford. Grandpa Joe and Alice were married by a justice of the peace in San Diego rather than in the Catholic Church because as Grandpa Joe said, “The nun asked too many questions.” Alice was already three months pregnant when they got married.   The Flores’ had one child, Carlo who was born shortly after they got married. They lived in a small house in Hermosa Beach that they bought for only $700. At one point in their marriage, Alice’s parents sent for her to come home to Switzerland to take care of them in their old age. “Alice went back and took three year old Carlo with her to Switzerland,” said Grandpa Joe. “After four years I got lonely and went to join them, but her father didn’t want me there and sent me back to America,” he added. They never got back together again after that.   Grandpa Joe was eligible to live at the historic Veteran’s Home because he spent seved in the Navy, retiring in 1970. “In 1941 Grandpa Joe was living in Menlo Park and went to the Army recruiter office to sign up, but was denied enlistment because he was too old. So he took a bus to Treasure Island and was accepted into the Navy by lying about his age,” said his son, Carlo Flores, who is almost an octogenarian himself. During his stint in the Navy, Grandpa Joe was aboard a ship in the Corral Sea that was torpedoed and sank. Of the 300 men on board, he was one of only 30 survivors. “Grandpa Joe spent 30 days floating in the ocean before being rescued,” said his son, Carlo. Before the end of the war, Grandpa Joe became Admiral Chester Nimitz’s personal steward. Grandpa Joe lived by himself in Redwood City until he was 100 years old. His son encouraged him to live at the Veteran’s Home where he would have around the clock care. “I came here about four years ago. I’m glad to have a roof over my head,” said Flores. “Besides, I like all the Filipino nurses here,” he added. I asked Grandpa Joe the secret to his long life and he replied with a mischievous grin, “When I was in the Navy I smoked some cigarettes and had a few women. Other than that I don’t have a secret.”  Who can argue with the wisdom and experience of a 105 year old Manong. On June 27, 2004, Grandpa Joe passed away quietly in his sleep, fifteen days after his 106th birthday.