Sister Marisa Lichauco, MM
Born: August 23, 1929
Entered: September 2, 1959
Died: September 25, 2026
Dear Sisters, members of the Lichauco family, and friends, (here and joining by live-stream),
“There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens.”
These words from Chapter 3 of the book of Ecclesiastes (3:1) open the scriptural readings for Sept. 25, 2026, the day our Sister Marisa Lichauco died at 8:55 in the evening, after a long life lived appropriate to its time. Born in Manila, Philippines, on August 23, 1929, Luisa Lichauco was one of four daughters, the others being Elena, Cecilia and Mercedes, of Thomas and Emma Roensch Lichauco. She is the last of her immediate, strong and close-knit family, who lovingly supported one another through personal and deep scars of both World War II and the polio epidemic of their time, and into the ecological crisis of today’s world.
In Manila, Marisa studied at St. Scholastica grade and high school and at the end of WWII she transferred to Maryknoll College high school where she graduated in 1947. She received a scholarship to Marywood College in Scranton, PA, where she earned a B.A. in History in 1951, achieving a Masters in History in 1958, from the Ateneo de Manila University. During this period, she began to distinguish herself both for teaching on all levels and for her enthusiasm for beauty and art, often expressed in her landscaping of gardens, a beloved hobby from her youth.
On September 2, 1959, Luisa entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Maryknoll, NY. At reception she received the name Marisa which she retained for the rest of her life. She made first Profession of Vows on June 24, 1962 at Topsfield, MA. Later in 1962, she taught literature at Maryknoll Teachers College at Maryknoll, NY, while she also participated in the Sisters’ Juniorate program. She was assigned to Guatemala in 1963, where she taught at Monte Maria grade and high school in Guatemala City. In 1968, she was assigned to Maryknoll College in Manila, Philippines, where she made Final Vows on June 24, 1968.
In Manila, Marisa taught for one year in the Maryknoll College department and was Principal of the College Grade School from 1969 to 1976. Between 1976 and 1978, she worked with the College’s Faculty Development Program in Davao, Mindanao, reaching eight rural schools, offering educational opportunities to the teaching staff. In 1979 she supervised the construction of the Sisters Regional House in Quezon City. In 1980, she entered a new work as Administrator of the Tahanang Walang Hagdanan (Home with No Stairs) also known as “House With No Steps,” a Center for Differently-abled children in Cainta, Rizal. In 1985, she became Director of Education at this Center, following an absence from 1983 to 1985, to give service in the Mission Institute at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York.
The the late 1980s were years of political upheaval in the Philippines, during which time NAMFREL (National Citizens Movement for Free Elections) awarded Marisa a “Certificate of Appreciation for courageous work and devotion to the cause of a free, orderly and honest election on Feb. 7, 1986, lighting a candle for democracy.” This period is also when Marisa’s love for gardening began to mature into an awareness of the world’s critical ecological situation, including the devastating deforestation taking place in the Philippines. She began giving ecology lectures in schools, to civic groups, to just about anyone who would listen, ending her talks always with the dramatic and encouraging question, “What is your action going to be?” People were ready to run out and plant a tree! Marisa herself is said to have planted a thousand trees in the Philippines.
In a 1990 Maryknoll Sisters Communication Office interview with Marisa, the latter told how the idea of a mini forest was conceived by a Miriam College ecology group with the acronym “P.E.A.C.E.,” that she was working with. Everyone liked the idea and Marisa said she thought she could execute the idea easily and happily. Combining her knowledge of gardening and of the earth with her administrative skills, within a relatively short time, Marisa was able to create a Mini Forest on approximately two-and-a-half acres of land in the center of the Miriam College campus. The College remains proud of this Mini-Forest Park, and it has been hailed as creative and farsighted by its many visitors. In Sept. 1998, Marisa received the Filipino 10th Chino Roces Award “for planting the seeds of environmental concern among Filipinos and pioneering a Mini-Forest Park to give them a deeper understanding of nature, thus helping ensure a better environmental future for coming generations.” In 2002, she received the “Amazing Alumni Achievers Award” from Miriam College for being “the moving spirit behind the Mini-Forest Park.”
In 1999, and into the new century, Marisa took care of her mother and her sister Mercedes known as “Ditas” in their last illnesses. After their passing she used the family home for retreats, days of prayer and workshops for the benefit of her parish, Sanctuario de San Antonio in Makati City. She continued to volunteer in many parish activities, including the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation ministry and the Parish Scholarship Committee, until her return to Maryknoll, NY and joining the Eden Community on Dec. 1, 2018. During her seven years in the Eden Community, she continued to display her characteristic enthusiasm for issues of life in today’s world, until failing health quietly led her into new life, prepared for her by her loving God.
Sister Marisa is survived by her many devoted nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews and their respective families. We are happy to have with us this morning Marisa’s cousin, Tom, and his wife Patricia; and her cousin, Sasa, and her husband, Richard. We also welcome Marisa’s friends, some of whom were students at Maryknoll Grade School when Marisa was Principal. We extend our deep condolences to all, as we welcome Maryknoll Father Michael Walsh, MM who will preside the liturgy of Christian burial this morning.