Last Aug. 31, the family of Jose N. Concepcion Sr. — a family that is a bulwark of Philippine industry — marked his 37th death anniversary. As they paused to commemorate the life of the founder of Concepcion Industries, they paused to celebrate the life of his beloved wife, their mother, Herminia. For Jose Sr. passed away on the birthday of his late wife — his one true love.
The members of his family decided to share Jose Sr.’s amazing story with me. It is a story of a titan who created an empire, but it is also the story of a sentimental man who lived for the woman he loved.
Jose Sr. and wife Herminia left a legacy of business excellence to their children and sparked the entrepreneurial spirit in them — twins Jose Jr. or Joe and Raul or Ronnie, 82; Eumelia or Mely, 81, and Rene, who died in 2003 at the age of 62 due to complications from dengue.
Today, Concepcion Industries led by Ronnie takes pride in this enduring legacy left by his parents.
Jose Sr. was one of the eight children of Felipe Navarro Concepcion and Imelda Arevalo. He spent his childhood in Manila but was sent to the US in 1919 by his parents to study at the University of California in Berkeley where he finished his Associate Degree in Commerce.
He later moved to New York University to complete his Bachelor’s Degree. When he returned to Manila, Jose Sr. passed the CPA exams and joined the Edward J. Nell Company, eventually becoming the first Filipino to head a major foreign-owned corporation in the Philippines.
Jose Sr. and the former Herminia Santos started a secretarial and business school in 1935, the National Business School in Santa Cruz, Manila. Herminia, who, according to daughter Mely, only finished high school, had incredible entrepreneurial skills. This led to the success of the school.
Jose Sr. and Herminia also started an import-trading firm in 1945, thus they were able to build a beautiful home on Taft Avenue, Manila and send their children to the best schools — the boys to La Salle and Mely to the Assumption Convent in nearby Herran. The Concepcions and their children conversed in Spanish.
One of the twins’ classmates, Berning Jalandoni, recalls in Ronnie’s biography, “I remember the Concepcions, even at the point in their life, were in the upper end of society. And their friends would go to their big house in Pasay near the rotunda. One thing about the Concepcions is that they never looked down on their poorer friends. Even their poorer neighbors. Hindi sila matapobre.”
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Jose Sr. started Concepcion Industries in 1962 when he was 60 years old, an age when most people either retired or carried on with the status quo. Instead of coasting along on his comfortable post as chief executive of a multinational firm, Jose Sr. boldly pioneered his vision of Philippine industrialization.
Initially, it was a difficult mission but Jose Sr. found strength and inspiration from Herminia, who was also his business partner.
According to Ronnie, his parents passed on to his children the principles that they lived by — “hard work, involvement, attention to detail and integrity.”
“My father taught me to pay much attention to detail, to work hard and be hands-on with my work,” Ronnie once told this writer.
In fact, according to Menchu, Ronnie’s beautiful wife, “for Ronnie, being idle was a sin.”
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The elder Concepcions also showed their children and grandchildren their “tremendous love” for each other. The Concepcions’ eldest grandchild, Renna Hechanova Angeles, daughter of Mely and Paing Hechanova, witnessed this.
“My mom is the only daughter of Lolo and Lola; and since I am the eldest grandchild, I had the opportunity to be really close to them. Lolo and Lola were inseparable, they did all things together. Lolo would always give a corsage to Lola on her birthday. And she actually kept it all in a ref to preserve it.
“I wish they could have stayed with us a bit longer, to further inspire and guide us. But I know that they are happier now because they are together eternally. In them, I have witnessed unconditional love.”
When Herminia died on June 24, 1977, Jose Sr. was inconsolable.
After she died, he fell ill and had to undergo bypass surgery in the US. On Aug. 31, 69 days after his beloved wife passed away, Jose Sr. followed her to heaven. He died on Herminia’s birthday.
Her remains were exhumed on her husband’s burial so that even in death, she and Jose Sr. could be together.
In their common tomb, their children buried birthday cards given by Jose Sr. to his wife as a declaration of his love and devotion to her.
When Joe Jr. eulogized his father, he recounted, “The cards, always accompanied by an orchid corsage, contained his declaration of love and abiding devotion to my mother. On mother’s birthday, Dad once more declared his love and abiding devotion to her but not through a card or an orchid corsage. It was by giving up life itself so that he could finally join mother through eternity.”
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When Jose Sr. passed away, his sons Joe and Ronnie took over the empire. Ronnie took over the Concepcion Industries while Joe headed RFM, the flour milling company. Their children are also active in the business — their own orchid corsage offering for their beloved grandparents who started it all. (You may e-mail me at joanneraeramirez@yahoo.com.)