Maria Clarissa Ilagan Romero, affectionately known as Issa, passed away peacefully on December 2, 2025, at the age of 58 in her Beaverton, Oregon home, surrounded by her loving family. Her gentle departure has left an irreplaceable emptiness in the lives of those who knew her radiant warmth and selfless heart.
Born in Manila, Philippines, Issa immigrated to Oregon with her parents and siblings in 1984, settling in Hillsboro where she graduated from Glencoe High School before earning a nursing degree from Portland Community College. For over three decades she worked as a registered nurse at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, caring for patients with the same tenderness she showed her own family.
Issa shared 34 years of marriage with her husband, Joey Romero, building a joyful home in Beaverton filled with the aroma of adobo on Sundays and the sound of laughter from their three children and five young grandchildren. She was the family’s quiet anchor, always ready with a listening ear, homemade lumpia, and bedtime prayers in Tagalog.
A devoted parishioner at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, Issa sang in the choir for 25 years and coordinated the annual Simbang Gabi celebrations that brought hundreds together each December. She also volunteered weekly at the Oregon Food Bank, packing boxes with the same care she gave to every patient chart and every grandchild’s scraped knee.
In her personal time, Issa found peace tending her backyard garden of calamansi and roses, hosting karaoke nights that lasted until dawn, and planning yearly family trips to the Oregon coast where she collected agates and taught the children how to spot whales at Depoe Bay.
Issa is survived by her husband Joey, children Justin, Janine, and Jiro, five grandchildren, her parents, and seven siblings. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on December 12, 2025, at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Beaverton, followed by a reception honoring the love and light she brought to every life she touched.
