On May 8, 2020, my beloved uncle, Isidro Baldos, “Tito Drod” loving husband, father and grandfather, passed away at the age of 69 at Jamaica Hospital in Jamaica, New York, after a courageous 3-week battle with Covid-19. He was preceded in death by his parents, Placido and Librada, two brothers, Felix and Agustin and sister Flora Maglalang. He is survived by his wife Estrella Baldos, son Zeus Baldos, grandson Zeon Baldos, sisters Estelita Hernandez and Herminia Corpuz, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Isidro was born on May 15, 1950 in Santa Cruz (Lagarian), Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines and was the youngest of six children. He attended Naujan Academy High School in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. After high school, he attended Adamson University in Manila, graduating with a degree in Engineering in the early 1970s. While he was studying, he worked at Max’s Chicken restaurant. After graduation, he worked for the offices of the National Waterworks and Sewerage System (NAWASA) in Manila. Tito Drod met the love of his life Estrella (Tita Essie) through his sister Tita Flor. Tita Flor and Tita Essie were both teachers in San Andres, Manila. Tito Drod and Tita Essie were married on May 7, 1979 in Ermita, Manila. They had a small and intimate wedding with close family and friends. On July 9, 1981, they had their son, Zeus. Tito Drod came to the United States in February 1984 and lived with our family in Hauppauge, Long Island. Less than a year later, Tita Essie and Zeus joined us in New York in June 1985 and the Baldos family was whole again. At that time, the Hernandez and the Baldos family had decided to move back to Woodhaven, Queens. We lived together in the same household enjoying daily family life, celebrating birthdays, holidays and anniversaries together along with many family vacations and road trips. The Baldos family eventually moved to their own home a few minutes away in Richmond Hill, Queens. Lucky for us, they had a huge swimming pool. We would spend countless hours in their large backyard having pool parties and barbecues long into the hot summer nights. Every weekend was a party and Tito Drod was the master griller. I will always remember those delicious steaks with oyster sauce. Those were the best summers.

Tito Drod started working for the United Nations mission in 1985. He worked for different missions including Kenya, Angola, and Mexico. The last mission he worked for was Mexico up until he became ill earlier this year from Covid19. He made many lifelong friends while working for the UN. He was a hard worker, providing for the family and securing his future. It was his hope to one day retire in the Philippines with Tita Essie.
Despite the long hours of work, he always made it a point to be with the family. He loved to sing, dance, entertain and have fun. He was always noted to be loud, boisterous and happy. He had a wonderful singing voice and some of his favorites were “Delilah” by Tom Jones and “Spanish Eyes” by Al Martino. He always brought life to the party, often coming after working many long hours bringing his enormous smile and exuberant personality. He was fondly known as “Drod,” “Tito Drod” and “Lolo Rod” by many family, friends, nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
Tito Drod and Tita Essie were also the Godparents (Ninong and Ninang) for my brother, Marlon and my communion and confirmation. He and Tita Essie were also principal sponsors for Marlon’s wedding and Grace’s wedding. He was a large part of many of our major life events. He was the uncle that was always there for us.

Isidro loved his family not just in New York, but all over the world including all parts of the United States and the Philippines and Europe. His last trip to the Philippines was in February 2020 where he spent 3 weeks. During that trip, he was able to see family and friends and once again sing “Spanish Eyes” on Karaoke while dancing with his lovely wife.
Isidro also took up golf and was very passionate about this, disappearing for hours playing golf which he enjoyed immensely. Even in Arizona, I accompanied him to find golf courses in our town and he loved it immensely!

Tito Drod was loved by many and his legacy will be his passion for life and his love of family. In his death, he has shown us that life is meant to be lived passionately and to be enjoyed with family and friends. In his passing, he has also taught me how important family is, no matter how far they live, or how long it has been since you last saw them. Family is everything. He always made an effort to visit family members in the United States and the rest of the world, spreading his joy and making everyone laugh. We miss him and we will continue to miss him.

Tito Drod - I find comfort knowing that you are now at peace although you will be missed by so many whose lives you have touched.
Rest in Peace Tito Drod

"May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft, upon your fields.
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand."
- An Irish Blessing

Friends and family are invited to share a virtual memorial on Saturday, June 20th at 7:00 P.M. (New York local time) via zoom. Details to follow.

Please feel free to share a memory, a photo or a song about our beloved Tito Drod.

Eric Devon Dockery , son of Maybalean Williams and Robert Dockery was born September 16, 1975 in Chicago, IL. Eric was raised in a tight knit family that spread from Illinois to Arkansas.
From childhood, Eric had an amazing energy that radiated, emitting the sense that he cared about everyone, loved and respected all life. That love for life and genuine care and concern for others carried him through his life's journey.

Eric attended Calumet high school in Illinois. He went on to study Mass Communications at St. Louis Community College. The connections and friendships Eric made during those times have remained true through today.

Eric returned to Illinois in 1999, where while working at TGIF of Midway, he met, in his words, "The Love of My Life." Eric and Kimberly (White) were married June 9, 2001, surrounded by friends and family. Eric was a devoted and loving father to Kimberly's daughters, Lauren Ashley, Sydney Michelle and Jessica Marie. Their union was a love story.

Eric became a CDL truck driver in 2006 and quickly emerged as a leader in the industry. Eric was an entrepreneur at heart and had many entities under his umbrella company Dynamic N-Fluence LLC. Eric worked hard to leave his mark on this world. He was truly dynamic.

The Lord called Eric Devon Dockery home on May 1, 2020. Eric lost his life in a tragic trucking accident while driving in Pennsylvania. While Eric's life on this Earth was short lived for those who love and miss him, his journey was complete. Eric's purpose was fulfilled. He loved passionately and was loved. He was successful. He was at peace with God and lived his life as a good man. He surrounded himself with the like and always did his best to make a deliberate and positive difference in people's lives.

Eric is survived by his parents Maybalean (Williams) and Robert (Dockery), his younger brother Tremain Dockery(Andrea), niece Tiana, and nephew Tremain.
Eric leaves to carry on his legacy his wife Kimberly, their daughters Lauren Ashley, Sydney Michelle (Wesley), Jessica Marie (Trever Agee), and his grandsons Phoenix Martin (Papas best friend) and Kendall-Alexander (Papa's main man), sister in law, Royal Hawthorne (Darren), nephew Brandon, niece Brittany Maria(June 25, 1989-May 3, 2020)RIH
Eric was preceded in death by true patriarchs of his family. He leaves his Big Mama, Elizabeth Dockery, a host of cousins, aunts, uncles and friends to honor his memory.

If you want to be loved and respected, you have to emanate love and respect to all you encounter. Eric did this genuinely with sincere passion and purpose.
Please continue to help our family in celebrating his memory.

He served British Council for 18 years

Our daughter and sister, Katie, passed away on May 8th at the age of 35 after an incredibly difficult battle with mental illnesses that eventually took too great of a toll on her body. She was so loved and no words can express the devastation we're feeling. She touched many lives with her kind, sweet, and compassionate nature, and was both a gentle soul and a fierce fighter (as anyone who had ever played a competitive game with her will attest). We'll miss seeing her smiling face, we'll miss hearing her gleeful laugh, and most of all we will miss hugging our brave sister and daughter.

Katie would have wanted everyone to know that her life was filled with so much happiness because of the people in it. She found true joy in shared experiences with people she loved and cared about. Anyone who spent time with her knows how delighted she was to do the simple things, because it wasn't about what she was doing, but her connection to family and friends. She brought her quirky, fun, and infectious personality into all of our lives. We know it would have been important to her that those who knew her understand that, while she was struggling, she also tried to live life to the fullest. We have so many memories and photos over the years allowing us to take solace in knowing that Katie made wonderful memories that will live on through all of us.

Katie was deeply caring and incredibly empathetic. So much so, that while laying on a raft in a lake we spent time at every summer, she once insisted on lifting a single ant out of the lake and making her sisters swim it back to shore. We'll forever smile thinking about the things that brought Katie joy. She loved to relax and cuddle with her sister's dog. She was always in the middle of a creative project, and her handiwork shined through in everything from jewelry designs to festive Christmas ornaments. She was a genius at constructing elaborate homemade Halloween costume (a wearable working hot tub!). If you were looking for a mini-adventure with an enthusiastic friend, Katie was top of the list, game for everything from taking in a murder mystery dinner (Katie was a top notch amateur sleuth) to RV-hopping at the camping expo to looking for off-beat treasures at the flea market. She'd come to brunch with ridiculous gifts like scratch-off lotto tickets and new Slim Jim flavors or, if you were really lucky, one of her famed bean dips (if anyone was going to bring back the lima bean--it was Katie!). Her sense of humor was one of a kind.

There were so many qualities we admired in Katie, and one of them was her commitment to advocating for what she believed in. If she saw someone experience an injustice, no matter how big or small, she would try to make it right with a tenacity matched by few. That spirit of determination was present in everything she did. She was your biggest cheeleader--inspiring, kind-hearted, and generous in offering her support. We are so grateful to have experienced her many unique gifts while she was with us.

We know many people may feel stunned and shaken to hear that Katie had struggled with mental health issues. Her privacy was important to her, and we were respecting her wishes. You all were a part of her support system at different points in her life when she needed you.

Our family will be holding a private celebration of her life at a time when it is safe for people to gather again. We want to honor her by asking that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) in her memory. NAMI is a nonprofit organization that educated our family and helped us navigate through our efforts to support her, and which can be a resource to many others in the future. Katie's compassion for others is in keeping with the mission of this organization, and in the past few months she expressed her desire to become a peer navigator for others struggling with mental health once she was ready to take on that role.

We hope you will take some time to look through their website for more information. Mental health issues affect so many people and it is likely all of us know somebody who has been affected. Being educated about how to support friends and loved ones can pave the way for someone struggling to get help.

We would love to hear your fond memories of Katie in the messages section below. If you would like to share photos and media, please email them to remembrance.roman2020@gmail.com rather than post them here. Thank you for all your support during this terribly difficult time.

With love,

Bob & Mary, Anne & Emily, Susie & Owen

“Those who go down to the sea in ships,
who do business on great waters,
they see the works of the Lord,
and His wonders in the deep.
For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
which lifts up the waves of the sea.
They mount up to the heavens,
they go down again to the depths;
their soul melts because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
and are at their wits' end.
Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
and He brings them out of their distresses.
He calms the storm, so that its waves are still.”

– Psalm 107:23-29