Heroina C Noriel

HEROINA C. NORIEL (1935-2023)

Heroina, fondly called “Nena” by her friends or “Ninay” by her siblings, was born on November
30, 1935 in Bacoor, Cavite, Philippines to Bonifacio Noriel and Angela Cuevas, who were both
public school educators. She was the fourth child in a family blessed with 7 children, with 4 elder
siblings Edith(+), Romulo(+), Esther(+), Gloria(+), and 2 younger brothers, Carmelo, and
Ibarra(+).
Nena graduated from the Philippine Women’s University with a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition.
Shortly after her graduation, she worked briefly with the Department of Reparations office
located near the Port of Manila, for less than a year.
After years of working in the Philippines, she decided to follow her younger sibling Ibarra and
migrated to the United States, first settling in with brother Romulo in Lemoore, California, then
Washington D.C., later moved to Elmhurst, Queens NY and then eventually finding residence in
Jersey City, where she lived until her demise.
She worked tirelessly as a nutritionist in Harlem Hospital, from 1973 until her retirement in 1997,
but continued to do volunteer work in the hospital’s Outreach Feeding Program for several years
after retirement. She was even given a citation by the hospital for continuing to work during a
city-wide strike, commending her for “her willingness to work long and arduous hours at tasks
above and beyond the call of duty. Her work ethos was definitely exemplary.
She enjoyed watching her game shows, enjoyed traveling with her friends and relatives,
frolicked in New York’s cultural scenery, loved to shop frugally for discounted items, and more
importantly, was a faithful adherent to the tenets of her Christian faith, especially that of her
beloved church in the Philippines, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, recognized as one of the
few, if not the only, tangible product of the Philippine Revolution. Nena grew up in a family of
Aglipayans, which was not surprising since she can claim the revolutionary General Mariano
Noriel as grand uncle. She once served as the town’s Hermana Mayor, an honor bestowed upon
certain pillars of the community. She supported her church financially, and even provided
scholarship for three seminarians who eventually graduated into priesthood.
Once she found residence in Jersey City, she immediately connected with her spiritual home in
Grace Church Van Vorst, immersing herself completely in the church’s many offerings to the
community including her senior exercise classes, the book club, and feeding programs.
Fiercely independent, she never felt the need to deviate from her state of single blessedness,
thus allowing her to spend some time with her nephews –Joby, Lester, Rodney, Godwyn,
Dennis, Nathaniel, Nothmar, Carmelo Jr., Jasper– and her one and only niece, Mary Anne. She
is survived by her remaining sibling Carmelo, who resides in Las Pinas, MM, and her ten
grandnieces and grandnephews.

Funeral Home:
MICHALSKI FUNERAL HOME, 463 Monmouth St., Jersey City, NJ 07302
Viewing from 4-8 PM Friday, May 26, 2023
Parking available at St. Anthony’;s Church Parking Lot, entrance on 6th St.
Between Coles and Monmouth St.

Funeral:
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, May 27, 2023, 10:00 AM
GRACE CHURCH VAN VORST, 39 Erie St, Jersey City, NJ 07302

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