| Grace Dagdag Pedery Fort Washington, Maryland Tireless and Gracious Volunteer |
When she came to Washington with her husband and son in
1975, she brought with her a passion for community service and
volunteer skills that ranged from hospitality to networking to
organize people and resources as well as expertise in adapting to
any climate, following years living in war-torn Vietnam, Taiwan and
Guam.
Gracita Dagdag Pedery, affectionately called "Grace" by everyone ,
glows wherever she speaks of volunteerism or comes across an
opportunity of exercise it. " I guess I got it from my father and late
mother. My parents served others all their life," she said in an
interview that saw that her combining several tasks at the same
time: making a list of contracts, drawing a plan to raise funds for
the organization she currently leads as president, the Combined
International Philippine American Association (CIPPAA) and
encouraging a friend to look into the communication products of
Hispanic Americans. Hispanics impress her for their solidarity
and consistency of action, she said, adding that in her work place,
at the US Transportation Department Maritime Administration
where she's a financial specialist, she has been regarded as a
cultural bridge-builder, concerned with the interests of Hispanics
and Asian Pacific American employees as an employment
1975, she brought with her a passion for community service and
volunteer skills that ranged from hospitality to networking to
organize people and resources as well as expertise in adapting to
any climate, following years living in war-torn Vietnam, Taiwan and
Guam.
Gracita Dagdag Pedery, affectionately called "Grace" by everyone ,
glows wherever she speaks of volunteerism or comes across an
opportunity of exercise it. " I guess I got it from my father and late
mother. My parents served others all their life," she said in an
interview that saw that her combining several tasks at the same
time: making a list of contracts, drawing a plan to raise funds for
the organization she currently leads as president, the Combined
International Philippine American Association (CIPPAA) and
encouraging a friend to look into the communication products of
Hispanic Americans. Hispanics impress her for their solidarity
and consistency of action, she said, adding that in her work place,
at the US Transportation Department Maritime Administration
where she's a financial specialist, she has been regarded as a
cultural bridge-builder, concerned with the interests of Hispanics
and Asian Pacific American employees as an employment
manager.
Born in Manila on May 31, 1943, raised in Makati, educated at the Philippine Women's University and married
to Claudio "Jun" Pedery (of Pampanga and Cavite), Grace is your typical "total Filipina." Twenty six years of
living in America, raising Fredrick, her only son with Jun,a nd juggling a career in the civil service, motherhood
and family life have not changed her "Filipina-ness." She continues to cook and serve simple Philippine
dishes, her home is a fountain of hospitality, her closest friends are Filipinos, her values and traditions are
Filipino, her aspirations bear the mark of that era in the Philippines when "public service is a public trust" and
the family and home were the top priorities. Even in her dreams, Grace finds herself praying for the
Philippines (according to her). It's not surprising thus to see Grace and her husband, Jun, prominent and
high-profiled in the Filipino community in Washington. The community has become her "bit of Philippines"
abroad, a precious part of her old country that nurtures her as she continues to serve in "pro bono."
With her husband and family, Grace has symbolized "volunteer power," the possibilities of serving without
dropping out, the devotion to helping others. "giving back to the community." "I don't have any secret formula of
volunteerism," she said. "I just believe and follow what Christ said, 'It's better to give than to receive.'"
Here is a bird's eye view of Grace Pedery's work as a volunteer community builder. a task that has woven for
her a tapestry of civic, cultural, social and religious achievements.
Before she was elected CIPAA president in 1990, she has served as president of the Philippine Women's
University Alumni Association (PWUAA) in Metro Washington from 1988 to the present. She was also past
president of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), post 5471, Washington, D.C. from
1987 to 1990. She served as the public relations officer of the Association of Philippine American Women
(APAW) from 1988 to 1990 and was also a corresponding secretary of APAW at one time.
For seven consecutive years, Grace served tirelessly as the secretary of the Philippine Independence Day
Committee (PIDC), a position of hard work and patience that laid the groundwork for the now flourishing
Philippine Independence Week Committee (PIWC). Her years with the PIDC saw her at her heroic best:
balancing the need to like her kidney ailment (and successfully recovering from a transplant operation) and
the desire to serve the community. "we still see her unchanged in her commitment to the community, " said
one admirer. "She deserves all the awards we can think of."
For Grace Pedery, volunteer work should not be limited to one specialty. For her, it's a wide-range focus, a
great landscape of things to do, opportunities that reach her through friends, contacts, or even from what she
reads. It's a constant reaching out. Seizing the moment to serve, finding chances to honor others, recognize
the deserving, giving credit to others. When Filipino Desert Storm troopers started to arrive after the Gulf War,
she enlisted the help of the VFW to honor and celebrate their heroism. On this occasion, held last July, she
joined veterans and Fil-Am community together in a gathering that remembered volunteerism as a priceless
virtue.
She also, at one time, chaired Maryland's ethnic celebration of Lady Liberty's centennial, carving out for
children of Asian descent, particularly Filipino-Americans, a visible spot in the state's eyes to celebrate their
heritage.
In the early 80s when the community hardly knew of the existence of a rich but unorganized Philippine
ethnological collection at the Smithsonian, she initiated efforts in the community to raise consciousness for it
and start fund campaign to help in the collection's rehabilitation. She hosted the first volunteer expert, a
Filipino anthropological scholar, to begin work on the collection. Today, the APAW and other culture-minded
Filipinos in the area continue efforts to get the collection at the Smithsonian preserved, catalogued and
eventually exhibited.
Grace's open-doors policy to indigent Filipinos had also seen her family hosting Filipino leaders, religious
representatives, abandoned wives, sick nannies, newcomers to America and many more. She gives them
money, food, shelter, the basics. She introduces them to contacts and helps them move on to better status.
Outside her home, she volunteers in her spare hours and during weekends at the Mother Teresa's home in
Anacostia, a depressed area in Washington; at the D.C. Village Hospital for the handicapped youth and senior
citizens; at Martha's Table for the homeless and hungry in Washington where she helps feed the homeless
and brings in teams of CIPAA Youth and VFW Sons & Girls to make sandwiches and soup; at the Senior
Citizens of Southwest DC, A program sponsored by the Transportation Secretary's office; at the Veterans
Hospital in Washington where she often helps mount entertainment activities for in-patient veterans and drug
rehabilitation patients during Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentines Day. She also personally supports the
Prince George's County Hospice, the National Children's Hospital, the Fraternal Order of Police of PG County
Order #89, the Volunteer Fire Fighters Association. Several years ago, she started the "Ina Poon Bato" project
in the Philippines which featured food and clothing distribution to poor Filipinos in Manila and Bohol. She
helped raise funds for Makati's indigent by contributing financially to the Knights of Columbus in Makati. When
Monsignor Fortich of the Archdiocese of Bacolod came to Washington early this year, she initiated community
fund raising for the Filipino religious leader's projects in Negros Island's agro-industry. "Your help will buy us
two carabaos and that's a lot," the Monsignor told her and her fellow leaders of the community at a reception
that honored him.
As CIPPA president, she led her organization to give a pledge of $10,000 to the Mount Pinatubo Relief Fund
half of which has already been transmitted to Manila through the American Red Cross. In the last year's
earthquake, she helped co-sponsor through CIPAA the community's "Lindol Aid" project.
In the political life of her fellow Fil-Ams, Grace has contributed meaningfully. For instance, in P.G. County,
when Parris Glendening was new in his job as county executive, she initiated a dialogue between him and the
community leaders in the capital area hosting a dinner and reception at her home. That initial contact paved
the way for the county's helping the community get a "Philippine Room" at the Harmony Hall, a multi-purpose
center in the county. The Philippine Room has been the venue of many community events and is regarded as
forerunner of actual Philippine center in the nation's capital.
Today, as CIPAA president, Grace is committed to seeing CIPAA's multipurpose hall built on a sizable piece of
land in Temple Hills already fully paid by the organization. She leads the organization in efforts to build a
financial base to complete the project through casino operations recently licensed for a year by PG County.
Besides fund raising, Grace is adept in breaking grounds for other groups with Philippine interests. For
instance, she brought to the community's attention the athletic team of the Philippine handicapped in the
recent Special Olympics held in the US in 1988. She also gave the first award to ASIA ALIVE for its help to
Philippine children victimized by street violence and orphanhood.
In the Asian American community, she has helped set up events that drew focus on empowerment of
minorities, celebrated cultural heritage and encouraged youth participation in saying no to drugs.
Her leadership of CIPAA has seen her commitment to Fil-AM youth building. She committed her group to
support the PINOY SYMPOSIUM's meeting in the capital area last spring, a crucial convergence of youth and
old Filipinos across America. She also opened doors to the Bayanihan Dance Troupe and the La Salle
Choral Group when they performed int he area in the 80s.
In all these chances to serve, Grace has displayed availability to the community and accessibility. Many claim
that Grace is a perfectionist. Others say she only wants to finish what she has started, to achieve and do as
much and as best as you can. Many honors and awards given her over the years reflect these. Every year she
has been recognized by CIPAA for "continued outstanding support." Organizations like Martha's Table, the
National Association of Professional Asian Women, the Asian Pacific American Employees Council of the
Department of Transportation and the Federal Asian Pacific American Council have all showered her with
plaques of appreciation. But her most cherished award comes from the Philippine Ambassador Emanuel
Pela'ez who Honored her for her work with the PIDC.
When Grace speaks of community, she includes her Filipino communities in Guam, Taiwan and Vietnam as
well as her community in the Philippines. In these places, her volunteerism has been nurtured by non-stop
success in her work experience. In the Philippines after a Business Administration degree in 1963 with a
banking and finance major, she worked as secretary for an industrial company. When she moved to
Vietnam, she worked as civilian employee of the US military and continued to do so in Taipei later on. In
Guam she was a bank loan officer. She and her husband married in San Fransisco. They make their home
in Fort Washington, MD. Grace trained also at the Southeastern University in Washington and at the US Dept.
of Agriculture Graduate School. Her special hobby is gardening and her current dream is to tour Europe.#
- Mercedes Tira Andrei
Born in Manila on May 31, 1943, raised in Makati, educated at the Philippine Women's University and married
to Claudio "Jun" Pedery (of Pampanga and Cavite), Grace is your typical "total Filipina." Twenty six years of
living in America, raising Fredrick, her only son with Jun,a nd juggling a career in the civil service, motherhood
and family life have not changed her "Filipina-ness." She continues to cook and serve simple Philippine
dishes, her home is a fountain of hospitality, her closest friends are Filipinos, her values and traditions are
Filipino, her aspirations bear the mark of that era in the Philippines when "public service is a public trust" and
the family and home were the top priorities. Even in her dreams, Grace finds herself praying for the
Philippines (according to her). It's not surprising thus to see Grace and her husband, Jun, prominent and
high-profiled in the Filipino community in Washington. The community has become her "bit of Philippines"
abroad, a precious part of her old country that nurtures her as she continues to serve in "pro bono."
With her husband and family, Grace has symbolized "volunteer power," the possibilities of serving without
dropping out, the devotion to helping others. "giving back to the community." "I don't have any secret formula of
volunteerism," she said. "I just believe and follow what Christ said, 'It's better to give than to receive.'"
Here is a bird's eye view of Grace Pedery's work as a volunteer community builder. a task that has woven for
her a tapestry of civic, cultural, social and religious achievements.
Before she was elected CIPAA president in 1990, she has served as president of the Philippine Women's
University Alumni Association (PWUAA) in Metro Washington from 1988 to the present. She was also past
president of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), post 5471, Washington, D.C. from
1987 to 1990. She served as the public relations officer of the Association of Philippine American Women
(APAW) from 1988 to 1990 and was also a corresponding secretary of APAW at one time.
For seven consecutive years, Grace served tirelessly as the secretary of the Philippine Independence Day
Committee (PIDC), a position of hard work and patience that laid the groundwork for the now flourishing
Philippine Independence Week Committee (PIWC). Her years with the PIDC saw her at her heroic best:
balancing the need to like her kidney ailment (and successfully recovering from a transplant operation) and
the desire to serve the community. "we still see her unchanged in her commitment to the community, " said
one admirer. "She deserves all the awards we can think of."
For Grace Pedery, volunteer work should not be limited to one specialty. For her, it's a wide-range focus, a
great landscape of things to do, opportunities that reach her through friends, contacts, or even from what she
reads. It's a constant reaching out. Seizing the moment to serve, finding chances to honor others, recognize
the deserving, giving credit to others. When Filipino Desert Storm troopers started to arrive after the Gulf War,
she enlisted the help of the VFW to honor and celebrate their heroism. On this occasion, held last July, she
joined veterans and Fil-Am community together in a gathering that remembered volunteerism as a priceless
virtue.
She also, at one time, chaired Maryland's ethnic celebration of Lady Liberty's centennial, carving out for
children of Asian descent, particularly Filipino-Americans, a visible spot in the state's eyes to celebrate their
heritage.
In the early 80s when the community hardly knew of the existence of a rich but unorganized Philippine
ethnological collection at the Smithsonian, she initiated efforts in the community to raise consciousness for it
and start fund campaign to help in the collection's rehabilitation. She hosted the first volunteer expert, a
Filipino anthropological scholar, to begin work on the collection. Today, the APAW and other culture-minded
Filipinos in the area continue efforts to get the collection at the Smithsonian preserved, catalogued and
eventually exhibited.
Grace's open-doors policy to indigent Filipinos had also seen her family hosting Filipino leaders, religious
representatives, abandoned wives, sick nannies, newcomers to America and many more. She gives them
money, food, shelter, the basics. She introduces them to contacts and helps them move on to better status.
Outside her home, she volunteers in her spare hours and during weekends at the Mother Teresa's home in
Anacostia, a depressed area in Washington; at the D.C. Village Hospital for the handicapped youth and senior
citizens; at Martha's Table for the homeless and hungry in Washington where she helps feed the homeless
and brings in teams of CIPAA Youth and VFW Sons & Girls to make sandwiches and soup; at the Senior
Citizens of Southwest DC, A program sponsored by the Transportation Secretary's office; at the Veterans
Hospital in Washington where she often helps mount entertainment activities for in-patient veterans and drug
rehabilitation patients during Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentines Day. She also personally supports the
Prince George's County Hospice, the National Children's Hospital, the Fraternal Order of Police of PG County
Order #89, the Volunteer Fire Fighters Association. Several years ago, she started the "Ina Poon Bato" project
in the Philippines which featured food and clothing distribution to poor Filipinos in Manila and Bohol. She
helped raise funds for Makati's indigent by contributing financially to the Knights of Columbus in Makati. When
Monsignor Fortich of the Archdiocese of Bacolod came to Washington early this year, she initiated community
fund raising for the Filipino religious leader's projects in Negros Island's agro-industry. "Your help will buy us
two carabaos and that's a lot," the Monsignor told her and her fellow leaders of the community at a reception
that honored him.
As CIPPA president, she led her organization to give a pledge of $10,000 to the Mount Pinatubo Relief Fund
half of which has already been transmitted to Manila through the American Red Cross. In the last year's
earthquake, she helped co-sponsor through CIPAA the community's "Lindol Aid" project.
In the political life of her fellow Fil-Ams, Grace has contributed meaningfully. For instance, in P.G. County,
when Parris Glendening was new in his job as county executive, she initiated a dialogue between him and the
community leaders in the capital area hosting a dinner and reception at her home. That initial contact paved
the way for the county's helping the community get a "Philippine Room" at the Harmony Hall, a multi-purpose
center in the county. The Philippine Room has been the venue of many community events and is regarded as
forerunner of actual Philippine center in the nation's capital.
Today, as CIPAA president, Grace is committed to seeing CIPAA's multipurpose hall built on a sizable piece of
land in Temple Hills already fully paid by the organization. She leads the organization in efforts to build a
financial base to complete the project through casino operations recently licensed for a year by PG County.
Besides fund raising, Grace is adept in breaking grounds for other groups with Philippine interests. For
instance, she brought to the community's attention the athletic team of the Philippine handicapped in the
recent Special Olympics held in the US in 1988. She also gave the first award to ASIA ALIVE for its help to
Philippine children victimized by street violence and orphanhood.
In the Asian American community, she has helped set up events that drew focus on empowerment of
minorities, celebrated cultural heritage and encouraged youth participation in saying no to drugs.
Her leadership of CIPAA has seen her commitment to Fil-AM youth building. She committed her group to
support the PINOY SYMPOSIUM's meeting in the capital area last spring, a crucial convergence of youth and
old Filipinos across America. She also opened doors to the Bayanihan Dance Troupe and the La Salle
Choral Group when they performed int he area in the 80s.
In all these chances to serve, Grace has displayed availability to the community and accessibility. Many claim
that Grace is a perfectionist. Others say she only wants to finish what she has started, to achieve and do as
much and as best as you can. Many honors and awards given her over the years reflect these. Every year she
has been recognized by CIPAA for "continued outstanding support." Organizations like Martha's Table, the
National Association of Professional Asian Women, the Asian Pacific American Employees Council of the
Department of Transportation and the Federal Asian Pacific American Council have all showered her with
plaques of appreciation. But her most cherished award comes from the Philippine Ambassador Emanuel
Pela'ez who Honored her for her work with the PIDC.
When Grace speaks of community, she includes her Filipino communities in Guam, Taiwan and Vietnam as
well as her community in the Philippines. In these places, her volunteerism has been nurtured by non-stop
success in her work experience. In the Philippines after a Business Administration degree in 1963 with a
banking and finance major, she worked as secretary for an industrial company. When she moved to
Vietnam, she worked as civilian employee of the US military and continued to do so in Taipei later on. In
Guam she was a bank loan officer. She and her husband married in San Fransisco. They make their home
in Fort Washington, MD. Grace trained also at the Southeastern University in Washington and at the US Dept.
of Agriculture Graduate School. Her special hobby is gardening and her current dream is to tour Europe.#
- Mercedes Tira Andrei
Washington D.C. Since 1987
Washington D.C. Since 1987
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