June 1979 - International Philippine Philatelic Society

•to another. By the time we got married, I was ableto convince him that we should settle down inone place and live a normal family life instead ofliving out of suitcases from one hotel to the next.Manila was the choice, and for twelve solid years,no couple can ask for more. We were very com·patible; we got along very well and we were blessedwith three lovely daughters: Francesca, Doralee,and Earlane. We were completely happy.Frank was not a stamp collector really. I wasthe one who was collecting, a hobby I started sincemy high school days. During one of Frank's tripsto New York, he decided to get me a completeStamp Collectors Kit from Minkus which I t:agerlystarted fitling up. But that did not last long. As 1got more involved in our business, I started to forgetmy col;ection. But I kept buying packets afterpackets and throwing them in one box with "somedayI'll get to them" attitude.Finally, Frank got fed up and decided to mountmy stamps himself on the blank pages of myMinkus album. Pretty soon he was subscribing toLinns, Western Stamp Collectors, Stamps Magazine,etc ... He even visited the Philatelic Sectionof our Bureau of Posts and eventually joined alocal club. In short, Frank got hooked. He decidedto specialize in Philippines but unfortunately thelocal club members were more of general collectors.Very few were interested in studying Phil·ippine postal History.With a little push from his friend CI~·r1e Carriker,Frank decided to form a club for more advancedPhilippine collectors. Thus, in 1974. theInternational Philippine Philatelic Society wasborn. Frank pledged to bankrole the society untilit was able to stand on its own. He wanted it tobe the foundation of a good, solid group promot·ing Philippine philately. Many times. local collectorscommented that if only the Philippine PhilatelicNews, the official journal of the IPPS, wouldpublish news about other stamps, more memberswould join. But Frank was adamant - tPP5 willbe a medium for Philippine postal history only.There are other clubs, magazines and newspapersfor general collectors but one really for Philippinephilately. Thus, in spite of all the obtacles we encountered.we were able to continue the IPPSto date.Today, the IPPS is recogniZed Internationallyas the group to belong if you are specializing inPhilippine philately, and the PPN as the last worain Philippine philately. This is one achievementFrank could be very proud of. And. as long as Iam able to, I will continue to support the IPP5in his memory.With my lost saints - I love thee with thebreath,Smiles, tears, of all my life and if Godchoose,I shall but love thee better after death...- Sonneta from the Portuguese4