Emiliana (Asentista) Codilla

Emiliana Asentista Codilla, beloved mother and grandmother, passed away on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at the Mercer Medical Center in Hopewell, NJ.  
Emiliana or Mama, as she was lovingly called, was born in Mualbual, Cebu, Philippines on February 5, 1932.
As a young woman of 17 years, she married a hard-working man named Isaac.  Isaac Enriquez Codilla was slightly older than Emiliana and so began their married life.  Within a year she gave birth to her first child and during the next 21 years grew her family to ten children, nine of whom are still living.  Her life was mostly farming in a remote region of Manubuan, Matalam, North Cotabato on the island of Mindanao.
Things began to change when her daughter Maria, second oldest of the family married an American citizen who had worked in the Philippines for ten years as an educator.  The year was 1976 and the newly married couple immigrated to the United States.  The couple regularly sent money for the support of Mary’s family in the Philippines, but it was never enough.  And so, Maria, now a U.S. citizen, petitioned her mother, father and three of the youngest children. Emiliana arrived first and then two years later she returned to the Philippines to bring her husband, Isaac to the U.S.A. The three children followed a month or so later.
Mary’s home was large enough to accommodate her family.  And several weeks later, Isaac was able to obtain employment at a local hospital and within a few months obtained a two-story apartment in Trenton, only a stone’s throw from the famous Polish Church of St. Hedwig’s, which Emiliana’s family attended each Sunday.
Several years went by and two more of her children were petitioned for entrance into the United States.  One of them, Catalino, also brought with him his wife and four children bringing the total of family members petitioned to 11 members.  Emiliana had ten children in all, with one of them, Hermoso, dying at a young age.  Of those family members living in the Philippines and the United States, she had a total of 25 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.  Needless to say, her great occupation and pride in life were her family.
In all the years in which this author, her son-in-law, had lived with her, I never saw her angry or display any discontent at all.  A patient woman, there was never a mean bone in her body.  Emiliana always followed Jesus’ command: “Love one another as I have loved you”, and “Greater love has no man (or woman) than to lay down their life for one another” and (for their family).
“Eternal rest grant to her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.  May she rest in Peace.”  

Family and friends may call on Monday, April 15, 2024 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, 137 West Upper Ferry Rd., W. Trenton, NJ.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 AM at the church.  Cremation will follow and will be private.  Please visit Emiliana's tribute page at www.brennacellinifuneralhomes.com 

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