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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, January 7, 2005

Makakilo artist was soldier first

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

When the cancer came back, Marcelo Vendiola wrote his own obituary.

He was precise that way, even as an 80-year-old man struggling with failing health. Precise, determined and with an artist's strong sense of self.

Vendiola, who liked friends to call him "Marc," was a prolific painter and photographer. At one point, he estimated his number of completed canvases to be 3,000. Maybe 4,000. His carefully catalogued photographs included more than 40,000 slides. His Makakilo home was filled top to bottom, back to front with his creative endeavors.

But before he was an artist, he was a military man. He thought of himself as a soldier first, a soldier always.

"Marc once said that one-third of his life was spent growing up. The second one-third and the best years of his life were serving in the military," he wrote about himself. "His medical problems, he thought, started when he was in the Army, but he never regretted his time of military service."

Vendiola joined the Army in 1944 and was assigned to the 1st Filipino Combat Infantry (Black Hawk) Division. After 21 years of service, he came home to Hawai'i with a chest full of medals, including a Bronze Star and badges for combat infantry action in both World War II and the Korean War.

After retiring from the military, he worked as a civilian at Pearl Harbor and went to college, feeding his longtime interest in painting and photography.

He studied the great masters and tried his hand with various styles. He did landscapes and portraits, abstracts and some wild experimental pieces. He brought together the great loves of his life by painting fond, dignified portraits of his "brothers" in the VFW.

Vendiola died on Dec. 17. He had been very clear with his family that he wanted to die at home. In his precise, determined way, he made sure that happened, too.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Bea. In fact, the day he died was their wedding anniversary. He is also survived by four sons, two daughters, 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

And he leaves behind 35 years of artwork. Though he frequently gave paintings away to friends, he never sold his work. He wanted the entire collection to be displayed in a hotel or an office building or a school. If a buyer couldn't be found, he was willing to donate the thousands of paintings. In his last few months, he told his son to keep looking for a destination for his life's work.

Services for Marc Vendiola are today at Mililani Mortuary, Makai Chapel. Visitation starts at 8:30 a.m. He will be laid to rest at Hawai'i State Veterans Cemetery.

In the obituary he wrote for himself, he included this summary of his 80 years:

"Marc accomplished everything he set out to do in his lifetime, having wonderful fun doing it."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.