Inquirer man’s mother dies on day of son’s burial

STA. CRUZ, Marinduque—The mother of the Inquirer correspondent for this province, the late Gerald Gene Querubin, suffered a heart attack and died yesterday, the day of her son’s burial.

Gracita “Chita” Querubin suffered a heart attack in the family home here, where the wake for Gerald was being held. She was 63.

Gerald, 38, died on June 29 due to a congenital heart condition. The funeral Mass and procession for him started at 2 p.m. and was attended by friends, relatives and coworkers.

Yolando, Gerald’s father, said Gracita was found unconscious on the second floor of the family home  when their daughter, Gracelyn, went to check on her in the Querubin couple’s room at 9 a.m.

Just before that, Gerald’s former girlfriend was telling the family about a dream wherein she saw Gerald and his mother together, Yolando said.

Gracita stayed most of the time in their room during her son’s wake, “as she could not bear to watch the tributes offered for Toots,” said Gerald’s eldest sister, Sheila.

Sheila said Toots, Gerald’s nickname, was their mother’s favorite among her four children.

Gerald is known in his native town of Sta. Cruz as a community worker, an environmentalist and a mentor, according to an earlier Inquirer report.

The same report said “Toots,” Gerald’s nickname, came from “Tot,” his grandfather’s pet name for him when he was a child. Sheila, 40, was quoted as remembering Gerald as a quiet boy who would often shut himself in his room and read his books.

“Between us, he’s the loner and I was more like the extrovert type,” Sheila was quoted as saying in the earlier report. “I remember when we were in grade school, he would run to me when the other kids bullied him.”