Monserrat was born to Victorino Gonzales, of Batangas, and Josefina Lopez, of Iloilo, on March 6, 1919, in Sibulan, Negros Oriental. She received her early education at the Cebu Elementary School (1931) and at the Union High School (1935), graduating from both schools as a valedictorian. As an honors graduate, she completed a combined academic and home economics course at the Philippine Normal School in Manila in 1938 and then obtained a Bachelor of Science degree at Silliman University in 1941.
She had met Juanito Treyes Magbanua at the Union High School where he was her mathematics teacher but he waited for her to complete her college education before he married her on September 17, 1938. Rev. Hugh Bousman officiated their wedding at the Ellinwood Church.
After their marriage, Monserrat Magbanua began her teaching career as a teacher at the Hoey’s Kindergarten School in Manila from 1938 to 1939, as a teacher at the Dumaguete South Central School from 1939 to 1940, and as a critic teacher at the Silliman University Elementary School from 1940 to 1941.
World War II brought a change to the idyllic life of the young married couple. Juanito Magbanua had been drafted into the USAFFE Engineers’ Corps and was soon assigned to duties in Manila and elsewhere. Monserrat and her toddlers, Loretta and Ligaya, were always at his side wherever he was, determined to die with him if need be. Juanito was captured and incarcerated by the Japanese at the Camp O’Donnell POW death camp for 8 months. He had been given three months to live after his release, but both believed that God had protected them and had some higher purpose for their lives.
No longer able to teach, Juanito bought U.S. Army surplus and formed a construction company.
Juanito and Monserrat Magbanua soon became involved in provincial, local, national, and church organizations.
Monserrat became the chapter administrator for the Philippine National Red Cross Negros Oriental chapter in 1946 and a lifetime of civic and social work soon followed. She served the Negros Oriental Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Philippine National Red Cross, the Dumaguete Puericulture Center, the Dumaguete Water District, and the Negros Oriental Girl’s Scout Council. She also served in the Dumaguete Lionette’s Club, the YWCA, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the Silliman University Medical Center Women’s Auxilliary. She was a charter member of several of these organizations.
Her strong faith saw her presence at the Silliman Church and the Bread of Life. She had Bible studies at her home for various groups, participated in the Gideons International Auxilliary and, at the Silliman University Church, she served in the Women’s Guild, the Finance Committee of the University Church Council, and the Board of Elders.
After the death of her son, Jojo Magbanua, a member of the 1963 Philippine Boy Scout delegation to a jamboree in Marathon, Greece, the Magbanuas started their support of Boy Scout scholars and the Boy Scout organization. This pledge was continued by Monserrat even after the death of her husband in 1991.
All these services encompassed the years from 1949 into the early 2000s and, in 2007, she was bestowed the honor as an “Outstanding Negrense” for community service for the province of Negros Oriental.
She was an avid stamp collector and was the historian and record keeper for the many organizations she belonged to.
She also became a member of “Da Girls”, a group of young Christian women from Silliman and Dumaguete, who kept her feeling young as she participated in all their activities.
One would think that her busy life left no time or room for a family, but in addition to caring for her six children, she became a surrogate mother as early as her mid twenties, to 20 more nephews and nieces as well as 17 Thai students. All were educated at Silliman University. Her household was run with austerity, discipline, and the foundation of a Christian home. They lived a simple life and lacked for nothing.
Those who have known Monserrat Magbanua have described her with the following attributes:
A: Active even up to her sunset years
B: always Beautiful. A sweet and gracious lady with a beautiful smile.
C: daring to Care for everyone young and old
and, most importantly,
D: her Devotion to God.
Monserrat Gonzales Magbanua was truly a child of God who looked to her Lord daily for strength and guidance.
