Florendo Family Collection

Clemente Estilong Florendo was born on November 20, 1910, in the barangay La Union, in the municipality of Naguilian, in the province of Isabela, in the Philippines. In June 1931, Clemente and his cousin Crispino Ramirez Estilong embarked upon a month-long voyage from Manilla to Seattle, Washington on the S.S. President Jefferson. Clemente and Crispino arrived in Seattle where Clemente's elder brother Doroteo Florendo had lived since June 1929. Doroteo worked as a laborer for the City of Seattle and previously worked in sugar beet fields in Montana. Upon arrival in Seattle, Clemente, Crispino and Doroteo rented a car and drove to California where they worked in agricultural fields throughout the state including San Jose, Half Moon Bay, Castroville, Watsonville, and El Centro.

By 1940, Clemente was living in Castroville and his brother Doroteo was living in El Centro. Clemente and Doroteo shared a Post Office Box in Watsonville and traveled between Watsonville, Castroville and El Centro for work. Clemente moved to Watsonville permanently in 1942. Doroteo passed away in Santa Cruz at age 37 in July 1943. Crispino retired and returned to the Philippines in the mid-1970s.

Clemente’s wife, Maria de los Angeles Quintero Florendo was born on August 10, 1925 in Mexcaltitán, Sinaloa, Mexico. With the help of her sister, Alejandrina Quintero Bayuga (b. 1922 in Mexcaltitán, Sinaloa), Maria moved from Mexcaltitán to Mexicali, Baja California with her three children Agapita Quintero Barragan, Rosario Quintero Vieyra and Jesus Quintero from a previous marriage which ended after a family feud between her brothers and her brothers in law. A fourth child, Enrique, died as an infant at the age of four months. Alejandrina had two houses in Mexicali where Maria’s parents Domitilo Quintero and Loreto Quiroz and extended Quintero family first arrived after leaving Sinaloa.

In 1946, while working as a waitress in Mexicali, Maria’s elder sister Victoria Quintero Quiroz (b. 1917 in Mexcaltitán, Sinaloa) was introduced to manong Eulalio “Max” Bersamin. Victoria and Max were married in Lordsburg, New Mexico on April 27, 1947 and settled in Watsonville. While working between El Centro and Watsonville, Victoria and Max introduced another manong, Fortunato L. Bayuga to Alejandrina. The pair eventually married. Alejandrina and Fortunato invited Maria and her children to live with them at their cherry tomato farm on Paulsen Road in Watsonville.

Clemente met Maria in 1951 in Watsonville while Maria was living and working at the Bayuga’s cherry tomato farm. Clemente had a nearby farm where he grew strawberries. During the early 1960s, Clemente sold his property to help Maria and her children immigrate to the United States from Mexicali. Clemente and Maria were married in Salinas and had two children, Clemente Manuel Florendo (b.1960) and Mary Grace Florendo Perry (b.1963 ). Clemente also raised Maria’s children Agapita, Rosario, and Jesus as his own. Clemente became a naturalized citizen in the 1960s. Maria became a naturalized citizen in 1996.

The Florendo Family Collection was contributed to Watsonville is in the Heart by Clemente and Maria Florendo's daughter Mary Florendo Perry in 2021. The collection contains thirty-nine items total. It includes an oral history interview with Mary Florendo Perry in which she reflects on her parents' and elder siblings’ immigration histories and her experiences growing up in a mixed-race family in Watsonville. The collection also contains thirty-eight material culture items. The items include a photograph album created by Mary using her father's photograph collection and thirty-three letters from family in the Philippines and Mexicali. The letters are written in English, Spanish, and Ilokano. They represent the family's transnational ties to Mexico and the Philippines. Most notably, the letters sent between Mexicali and Watsonville document Maria Quintero and her two eldest daughters' experiences navigating immigration into the United States.

Mary Florendo Perry