Dr. Manuel T. Velasquez, of Falls Church, VA died peacefully at his home in Glendale, CA with family by his side on January 13, 2021, five days after his 82nd birthday.
Dr. Velasquez moved to Washington, DC in 1962, after receiving his MD from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Providence Hospital, Washington, DC and underwent fellowship in Hypertension and Clinical Hemodynamics and Nephrology at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Washington, D.C. He then completed a research traineeship in Cardiovascular Physiology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. From 1974 to 1980, he worked as assistant professor at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. In 1980, he and his family relocated to Milwaukee, WI as he continued on as a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. In 1986, Dr. Velasquez took on his last job as Director of the Hypertension Clinic and professor of Medicine in the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He was also the Medical Director for the George Washington University DaVita South East Dialysis Clinic. He spent 35 years between his office on Pennsylvania Avenue and the George Washington University Hospital, and received the honor of his lifetime -- the distinguished award of Professor Emeritus in 2017. In 2019, he was given the Walter Lester Henry, Jr., MD Award for Lifetime Teaching Excellence by the American College of Physicians.
On October 14, 1967, he married Rosario Pernia at The Cathedral of St. Matthew on Rhode Island Ave, where every Sunday morning, Dr. Velasquez served as an Usher at St. Matthew’s, through 2019. On more than one occasion he was the “doctor in the house,” when someone fainted or fell ill in the Cathedral, and it was his “silent lessons and gentle actions,” as recounted by a former student intern and friend, that he will be remembered for.
Manuel leaves behind his beloved wife of 53 years, Rosario; his four children, Cecilia (Walker) of Hingham, MA, Florenchine (Raleigh Mason) of Goshen, VA, Ishmael (Mary Rose) of Fairfax, VA , Michael (Nolan Capelle) of Oceanside, CA; his eight grandchildren, Evan, Matthew (Walker), Isabel, Aiden (Mason-Velasquez), Josie, and triplets Millie, Ava and Audrey (Walker); his four sisters, Ester (Santos) of Camarillo, CA, Barbara (Monasterial) of Phoenix, AZ, Christina (Santos) of Solana Beach, CA, Concepcion (Dr. Marshall Allen) of Somis, CA; his in-laws, Corazon (Rodis) of Glendale, CA, Socorro (Hernando Veloso) of Gilbert, AZ, Dr. Ernesto Pernia (Elena) of Manila, Philippines, Joseph Pernia (Ruby) of Manila, Philippines, Fr. Antonio Pernia of Tagaytay, Philippines, Mercedes Hugo of Charlotte, NC; his 44 nieces and nephews and extended family. He was preceded by his parents, Emilio and Concepcion; his brothers, Dr. Emilio of Granada Hills, CA and Renee of San Francisco, CA; his in-laws, Msgr. John Pernia of San Francisco, CA, Milagros (Eduardo Ordonez) of Cebu, Philippines, Dr. Ildefonso Rodis of Glendale, CA, and Eric Hugo of Charlotte, NC.
“The things that we love tell us what we are.” ― St. Thomas Aquinas. Manuel loved his patients, his work, but most of all his large family.
Due to the pandemic, a private memorial mass will be held, location and date to be disclosed at a later time.
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