[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10945]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO MANUEL SEMAN AND LUISE PANGELINAN VILLAGOMEZ

  (Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SABLAN. Madam Speaker, some families have an out-size influence 
in their community. With 12 children, 40 grandchildren, 30 great 
grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren, Manuel Seman and Luise 
Pangelinan Villagomez have clearly had an impact. But their influence 
was more than numerical. The Villagomezes were among the first great 
entrepreneurs to emerge from the ashes of World War II in the Northern 
Mariana Islands.
  Manny's family had farmed and fished, selling their produce to 
Japanese retail stores before the war. But afterwards Manny and Luise 
became business people themselves. They began with a small grocery 
store in Chalan Kanoa, then added a second in Garapan. They invested in 
real estate, went into construction, sold scrap and grew their 
fortunes. They invested, too, in their children's education, though 
they had only a sixth grade and third grade education between them. And 
they taught their children business, bringing them into the stores at 
an early age.
  Luise passed away, surrounded by loved ones, at the Kiyu compound in 
Fina Sisu a few years ago. But Manny Villagomez lives on, farming as he 
did as a child, still traveling occasionally, satisfied with the fruits 
of a life of hard work and devotion to family and faith.

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