Agan--Alberto V., age 86, died March 15 of kidney failure due to diabetes at Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula. Born December 26, 1919, in Zambales, Central Luzon, The Philippines, he moved to Tarlac Province as a young boy. There, at the age of 15, he became fluent in English while working as golf caddy at the U. S. Army Fort Stotsenberg. Bert joined the US Army in 1942, working in communications. He was captured during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and put in a POW camp. He soon escaped the prison camp and became a guerilla fighter in the mountains of Luzon. After WWII, Bert served in the Army artillery in Germany, but returned to the Philippines to marry his wife Encarnacion (Cion) Diamsay, in 1953. They had a son and daughter, Dwight Agan and Nancy (Agan) Murphy while stationed in Washington State. In 1962, Bert retired after 21 years in the Army and moved his family to the Monterey Peninsula. He and his wife started a retail grocery and produce business in Seaside on the old Highway 1. It was one of the first which featured international foods and he named it “UN Produce”. Bert and Cion sold international produce at several locations in Seaside and Monterey until the late 1970's. He received an AA degree in Criminal Justice from Monterey Peninsula College in 1976 and worked in the security office of AAFES “PX” in Fort Ord until retiring in 1981. Burt is survived by his wife of 54 years, Cion of Monterey and his children, Dwight Agan of Mountain View and Nancy (Patrick) Murphy and their children, Alyson and Nicole, all of San Francisco. Funeral services will be held at ThePaul Mortuary Chapel on Thursday, March 22 at 6:00 PM. Burial with full military honors will take place at San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Gustine. In lieu of flowers, contributions are suggested to your favorite charity. Please visit www.thepaulmortuary.com to sign Bert's guest book.
Published in the Monterey Herald on 3/20/2007.