FAMILIA : RESPICIO

 

Because the first Respicio on Guam arrived less than 200 years ago, and we still have documents where his name appears, we can easily identify who he was. As late as 1901 we find him in a court transcript written in Spanish where he is named as one of the carpenters involved in the court case.

ROMANO MIGUEL RESPICIO was from the Philippines, but unfortunately I cannot say precisely where in the Philippines since I have not found any document stating where. Family members who might know can chime in in the comments section.

Miguel, by the way, is his mother's maiden name. Many people have a Christian, or personal, name as a last name. Think of the Pablo family or the Francisco family.

After coming to Guam, he married LUISA LIZAMA PÉREZ.

They had three daughters : Rosa, Carmen and María.

And one son, ANTONIO. Antonio married Ana Materne Dueñas, the daughter of José Tenorio Dueñas and Felisa Dueñas Materne of the familian Gaspåt.

Antonio and Ana had the following sons :

ROMÁN, who married María Borja Castro, the daughter of Luís Palomo Castro and Concepción Santos Borja.

JOSÉ, who married Isabel Agualo Rivera, the daughter of José Ulloa Rivera and Carmen Taitingfong Agualo.

AMBROSIO, who married Teresita Garrido San Nicolás, the daughter of Enrique Rosario San Nicolás and Ana Garrido.

They also had an adopted son ROMÁN who married Frances Pangelinan Aguon, the daughter of Juan Santos Aguon and Francisca Pangelinan.

Those who carry the Respicio last name on Guam today are descendants of any one of these four men.

Romano and Luisa's daughters :

Rosa, who married Juan Cruz Fejarang, the son of Lucas Santos Fejarang and Antonia Santos Cruz.

María, who married Jesús Cruz Aquiningoc, the son of Juan Aquiningoc and Juana Cruz.

Another daughter, Carmen, never married.

Even though there is only one Respicio family on Guam, they are sometimes known as the familian Romano. Family nicknames were helpful in distinguishing which branch of a big family you belonged to, but even small families could have their own "better known as."