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We honor and remember Jeddah Abaquin Mariano, BSN, RN, a devoted nurse, caregiver, healer, wife, mother, colleague, and friend whose life was defined by compassion, service, and unwavering dedication to others.
Jeddah earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Martinez Memorial College in Caloocan City, Philippines, graduating in March 1976. Shortly thereafter, she began her nursing career at San Lazaro Hospital in the Philippines, embarking on a professional journey that would span more than four decades and touch countless lives across the world.
Throughout her career, Jeddah served patients in a variety of healthcare settings and communities. From the Philippines to Nigeria, and eventually to the United States, she answered the call to care wherever she was needed. In Kano, Nigeria, she worked at Kano Psychiatric Hospital in Dawanaw, providing compassionate care to patients facing mental health challenges. After immigrating to the United States in 1985, she continued her nursing career in Southern California, working in skilled nursing facilities, home health, and long-term care settings. Her service included roles in Echo Park, Long Beach, Fullerton, and Anaheim, where she became a treasured member of the healthcare community.
Jeddah’s nursing expertise was broad and remarkable. She worked in acute care, psychiatric nursing, home health, skilled nursing, residential care, and wound treatment. During her years at Country Villa Plaza, she became especially respected as a Wound Care and Treatment Nurse, caring for patients with pressure injuries, diabetic ulcers, burns, surgical wounds, and other complex conditions requiring both technical skill and extraordinary patience. She understood that healing involved more than treatment alone. It required dignity, comfort, kindness, and genuine human connection.
One of Jeddah’s greatest accomplishments was not a single award or title, but the enduring consistency of her service. For many years she balanced multiple nursing roles simultaneously, often working two jobs to provide for her family while remaining a dependable presence for patients and coworkers alike. Employers trusted her, colleagues relied on her, and patients found reassurance in her care. Even amid a demanding career, she remained devoted to her family, intentionally setting aside precious time to spend with her son, Chad.
While formal recognition may fade with time, the true measure of a nurse’s legacy is found in the lives they touch Jeddah’s greatest accolades came from grateful patients, appreciative coworkers, and families who entrusted their loved ones to her care. She had a special gift for making people feel seen, valued, and important.
Jeddah was known for bringing warmth wherever she went. She believed that presenting herself with pride and grace was part of caring for her patients. She wanted those she served to feel as though an angel had entered the room, bringing comfort and hope. Her kindness extended beyond the bedside. Coworkers fondly remember her friendship, her laughter, and the homemade pancit she would share on weekends. Through simple acts of generosity, she made coworkers feel like family and transformed ordinary shifts into moments of fellowship and joy.
Perhaps one of the most meaningful parts of Jeddah’s legacy is the impact she had on her son, Chad. As a child, he occasionally accompanied his mother to work, watching her interact with patients and colleagues. She proudly introduced him to those she cared for and explained the skills and responsibilities of nursing. Through her example, she taught him not only how a nurse works, but how a nurse cares. Her influence was so profound that Chad eventually followed in her footsteps and became a nurse himself. In this way, Jeddah’s commitment to nursing lives on through another generation.
Jeddah’s life reflected the values she carried into every patient room and every community she served: compassion, service, faith, family, dignity, generosity, hard work, and selflessness. She treated every individual with courtesy and respect. She believed in doing what was right, following through on commitments, and offering kindness whenever she could.
As we reflect on her life and career, we remember not only the thousands of hours she worked or the countless patients she treated, but the way she made people feel. She brought comfort during illness, dignity during vulnerability, friendship during difficult days, and hope when it was needed most.
Today, we honor Jeddah Abaquin Mariano, BSN, RN.
A nurse.
A caregiver.
A healer.
A mentor by example.
A devoted mother.
A woman whose life was a testament to service and compassion. Though her nursing career concluded with her retirement in 2022, her legacy remains alive in every patient she comforted, every coworker she encouraged, every family she served, and in the son who proudly followed her example. May we remember Jeddah not only for what she did, but for who she was: a nurse whose compassion became her legacy and whose service made the world a better place.