Rolando B. Aquino

Rolando B. Aquino, beloved husband, brother, father, and grandfather, passed away on March 21, 2021, in Ridgewood, NJ, due to complications from COVID-19. He was 83. “Rollie” was born on May 30, 1937, to Pilar and Eugenio Aquino in Morong, Rizal, Philippines. He graduated from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and, in 1961, came to the United States to practice medicine. There he met his future wife, Emma, while they were medical residents at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. After getting married in 1965 and working at various New York hospitals, they moved to northern NJ and raised their family. Trained in both surgery and anesthesia, Rolando worked for more than twenty years as an anesthesiologist at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ, ensuring that his family would want for nothing before enjoying retirement at an early age. A son of educators and a child prodigy who had a lifelong love of reading and learning, he was often seen surrounded by his books and papers. When he didn’t have a book in hand, one would find a racket in it and sneakers on his feet as he enjoyed watching and playing tennis till his knees wouldn’t let him. He was equally passionate about music, played piano, studied voice, sang and performed for audiences at numerous venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Philippine Consulate in New York City, and, most notably, at all four of his children’s weddings. He devoted his later years to the study and teaching of his Roman Catholic faith through local spiritual communities. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Emma, whom he told on Valentine’s Day of this year that he would marry her again if given the choice; their four children and their spouses, Alec & Maria Aquino, Christine & Emilio Quines, Patricia & Rowena Aquino, and Laura Aquino; four grandchildren whom he adored to no end, Max, Luca, James, and Cordero; special family members Curita Timoteo and her son Christopher; and his remaining siblings, Wilfredo Aquino, Cynthia Reyes, and Eugenio Aquino, Jr. He was preceded in death by his younger brother, Edmund Aquino.

Rolando will be remembered in a funeral mass with family members on Thursday, March 25, 2021, 10:00 am ET, at Church of The Presentation in Upper Saddle River, NJ. The mass will be live streamed. Due to the pandemic, there will be no large gatherings.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at https://www.stjude.org/, Catholic Relief Services at https://www.crs.org/ or the Church of the Presentation at https://www.churchofpresentation.org/.

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