Candelaria Rooks

Candelaria Luz Caballero Canceko Celestial Alo Rooks was an amazing woman of faith, hope and love. She tirelessly and selflessly gave to her family and brought beauty to all around her. Whether working with her hands or caring from her heart, she showed the deep, deep love of Christ her Lord.

Candelaria’s story begins in Cebu City, The Philippines on February 2, 1940. She was the fourth of six children born to Emilio Caballero Alo and Lucia Canceko Celestial. Her father was a teacher and her mother had a full time job caring for Gloria, Prep, Emma, Candelaria “Dely,” Fe and Lenita. The values and skills Dely learned at home served her well throughout her lifetime.

Dely attended elementary and high school in Cebu City and, after graduation, started working as a sales clerk for a large department store in town. Eventually she joined her sister Emma and brother-in-law Enie as a clerk in their home furnishings business, while also working at Emma’s restaurant. It was the beginning of a long career in service and retail. In her leisure time, she loved to dance and entered and won many dance contests. her frequent partner was referred to as "Little Boy Blue" and she as the "Lady in the Yellow Dress".

Yet her future was also shaped by a young man whom she met through her sister Fe. David Rooks was stationed in the Philippines with the U.S. Air Force when he met Fe at the Airmen’s Club where she worked. As it happened, David was assigned to show Fe’s family around Clark Air Force Base. Dely and David first met at that time, became acquainted and started dating. Their love and commitment grew over the next eight months and after an engagement of only one month they were married by the Justice of the Peace in Angeles City, the Philippines. They kept the marriage a secret because the military frowned on such arrangements. Two weeks after the wedding, David left on assignment to Germany. During their year of separation, Dely lived in an apartment above her sister’s store, but when she became ill with TB, she was hospitalized at Clark AFB near Manila. After eight months, she was transferred to Scott AFB in Illinois, where she underwent surgery in November of 1965. Her left lung and several ribs were removed. Thankfully, David was reassigned to Scott AFB and could support Dely during her year-long ordeal. He made a decision to leave the Air Force but, in about four month’s time, he reenlisted because jobs were hard to come by. With David’s new placement, he and Dely moved to North Carolina.

Dely and David’s first child was born on June 23, 1967, but sadly, Darin died three days later. He was buried in Grand Rapids, Michigan where David’s extended family lived. For some time afterward, Dely stayed there with his parents. Right away, they accepted the daughter-in-law they had never met before, and Dely was warmed by their loving care.

With another military reassignment, David and Dely moved to Oscoda, Michigan where their dear daughter Lany was born at the base hospital at Wurtsmith Air Force Base. David exited the Air Force in the early 70’s, the young family moved to Grand Rapids and moved to an apartment above David’s father’s medical office on Plainfield NE before settling into a house on Hillside NW in May of 1975. It was a lovely home, made all the more beautiful by Dely’s care and craft.

Dely was an immaculate housekeeper, highly skilled seamstress, and a remarkable handywoman. Her house was always spotless and delightfully adorned. She did everything from yard work and refinishing furniture to laying carpet, tile and linoleum, from fixing plumbing and painting to sewing, crocheting, hooking rugs, making 3D string art and macramé. Initially, Dely sewed without patterns, but once her mother-in-law taught her how to use patterns, there was no stopping Dely. She stitched shirts, suits, dresses, doll clothes, stuffed animals, curtains, slipcovers and even underwear!

Dely had enough to keep her busy at home, so she rarely drove the car except when she needed to. She drove Lany to and from kindergarten every day, and when David was hospitalized with diabetes in 1980, she regularly drove to the hospital to visit him. Then when Lany went off to college, Dely was off to her new job. From the late 80’s until 2000, she was a seamstress at Jacobson’s Department Store, where she gained a reputation for excellence. She had several high-profile clients who wanted only Dely to tailor their garments.

Dely retired just as her first grandson, Liam, was born in April of 2001. She had the joy of babysitting Liam two to three days a week while Lany returned to work part time. Once again, sewing became her hobby and she made curtains, pillows, clothes and crib sheets for her new grandson. In 2003, grandson Aaron James was born and the sewing continued.

In the winter of 2003, David retired from his job as a school custodian and Lany stopped working to be at home full time. Shortly thereafter, David was diagnosed with melanoma, and Dely turned her full attention to his wellbeing. She became his primary caregiver as David was incapacitated by chemotherapy treatments. Because of her care, he was able to stay at home where he wanted to live out his days. All the more amazing was Dely’s determination to help David despite her own health issues. Though physically weakened by asthma and seasonal allergies, Dely nursed David’s every need right up to the day of his death in 2004.

Dely knew that she had been able to attend to her beloved David through the strength she received from family and her faith. Her trust in the Lord carried her through the dark days of David’s death and her encroaching illness. She was constantly in prayer, read her Bible several times from cover to cover and memorized large portions of Scripture. She was changed by her experiences and brought closer to God.

Dely was close to her family as well. She was the consumate grandmother, shamelessly spoiling her grandsons and it really was her love for them that sustained her throught the dark days of grieving David's passing.

Dely wanted to remain in her home because she felt connected to David and her memories there, but at the same time, she was faced with the reality of life without him. Where once she relied on David to drive, handle the finances and make appointments, Lany stepped in, despite her own illness and subsequent brain surgeries. Mother and daughter showed such sacrificial love for each other, that Dely refused to go the doctor for her own treatment because she wanted to be there for Lany.

Unfortunately, Dely’s own health worsened during the time she attended to Lany, but she was able to remain in her own home because Lany took care of her. When Dely’s health declined further, she was hospitalized for a time, but Lany brought her back home. It was her final gift to her mother. Dely’s sister Fe provided much of the day to day care that allowed her the comfort of home and family in her last days. Dely suffered from pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure and died November 26th.

Dely was a testimony of faith throughout her 67 years. She loved the Lord more every day and relied on Him for every thing. She taught Lany to love Jesus, and now that love is passed on to her grandchildren. They see Lany’s faith as she journeys through life’s challenges, and they are reminded of Dely’s total reliance on the Lord. Dely’s faith is her legacy to her family.

Mrs. Candelaria “Dely”, “Candy” Rooks went to be with her Lord Monday, November 26, 2007. She was preceded in death by her husband David; infant son, Darin, sisters Gloria Alo and Prep Alo Maxwell. Surviving are her daughter and son-in-law, Lany and Tim Felstead, grandchildren William “Liam” Alexander Felstead and Aaron James Felstead, sisters Emma de la Cerna, Fe Weaver, Lenita Mills and many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held Friday at 1PM at the Heritage Lifestory Funeral Homes - Van’t Hof Chapel, 851 Leonard St NW where friends may meet the family on Thursday from 2-4PM and 7-9PM and on Friday for one hour prior to the service. Interment in Washington Park Memorial Gardens. Memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice of Michigan, 1260 Ekhart NE, 49505 or Orchard Hill Reformed Church, 1465 Three Mile NW 49544. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com to share a favorite memory or photo of Dely or to sign the online guestbook.