Journalist Rose Tibayan succumbs to cancer
Television journalist Rose Tibayan passed away on June 20 following a “courageous 14-month-long cancer fight,” according to the Furlong Funeral Chapel in Galena, Illinois.
Her most recent position was director of Public Affairs for the City of Chicago’s Department of Budget, Management, and Finance under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. She was looking forward to working with incoming Mayor Brandon Johnson, says the chapel announcement.
Rose began her career in journalism in New York City and moved to Chicago 20 years ago to join her husband, Don Villar, who is secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor.
She first worked as a page at NBC’s Rockefeller Plaza. She was promoted news assistant at NBC Nightly News. “Rose credits a conversation with television news legend Connie Chung for inspiring and encouraging her to become a reporter,” says the chapel announcement.
She met her husband through her career in television journalism. When they were introduced, Don was a T.V. news writer/producer at WLS-TV ABC7 Chicago.
Friends of Rose posted messages of affection and grief on Facebook.
Brad Baldia, National Executive Director of the Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Commerce (FPACC), remembers his “dear friend” and expressed regrets he never got to say goodbye to her. Rose lived in Philadelphia when she was Action News reporter of 6abc.
“When she lived in Philadelphia, she had a very tight group of friends. I will always cherish our many dinners and get-togethers at her apartment, her daily reports on 6abc Action News,” he writes on Facebook. “She died much too early and had so much to give the world. Rest in peace Rose Tibayan. You will be sorely missed!”
A friend from New York, Dr. Mariliz Guerrero Policarpio, shares how she and Rose met in 1989 through her Calendar Girls project.
“Through her project, Rose brought together a group of young Filipina women who were eager and willing to challenge themselves, have fun, and at the same time participate in community outreach,” she writes on FB. It was also through the Calendar Girls pageant that she met Jason who would become her husband.
“Meeting Rose was life-changing for me,” writes Mariliz.
Rose was deeply concerned about women’s issues.
Says Furlong chapel, “She started the Sampaguita Group Foundation to raise college scholarships for young Filipino women. She volunteered her time and skills to the Rizal Center, Chicago’s Filipino American Community Center, where she helped create the website and organized the children’s craft fairs and fundraising events. Following the 2013 devastation of typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Rose helped organize relief efforts at the center for the typhoon victims. Among the survivors were her mother-in-law and father-in-law. They were in the Philippines when the most powerful storm ever made landfall in history passed over them.”
Rose received her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City.
