Eulogy for a dear Brother Noli Enriquez

I first knew Noli Enriquez as a neophyte. In the turbulent 1967 when I applied to become an Upsilonian in my sophomore year and shortly after my trip back from China which was at the height of its Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, he was a member of Gari Tiongco's Fellowship Council. He was a humble brod, not known to boast and at times almost reticent, preferring to enjoy the conversations that went on around him. He was a good listener by all accounts. But when he spoke, his face was animated, and he spoke with much intelligence and insight. As officer, I had the impression that Noli measured every word he spoke, as if he rehearsed what to say beforehand so that its import and impact would be that more dynamic and effective. Perhaps, it was this kind of measured speech he made before the brods when he persuaded them to accept me as applicant during my presentation. You see, there were brods who thought I was a commie plant, some red agent commissioned to infiltrate the greatest fraternity in the world and learn its secrets. My Chinatown haircut didn't help of course, and my recent trip to China where I was invited to observe the hail of propaganda about the alleged success of their cultural revolution certainly brought suspicion, not to mention my very Chinese surname. Noli had learned that there was a move to reject my application. I am grateful that there was Noli who stood up for me, believed in me and in my potentials.


Predictably, as we each went our own way meeting Dstiny where we were sent, we lost contact after graduation. I got glimpses of him from other brods, stories really – secondhand accounts of his sightings. He was in Japan. He was in Canada. He became a successful entrepreneur. And like any red-blooded Upsilonian, he had his army of female admirers. As for his being an entrepreneur, it was no surprise to me. In U.P., his creative leadership potential was very evident, and it was my hope that he would pursue more studies in UP, take up law perhaps, and become a Most Illustrious Fellow of the fraternity. While I might not be entirely accurate, I believe he chartered planes, organized tours, and managed travel packages and found favour in Lady Fortune's eyes. I am told he led a life of leisure, finding time to pluck the plums out of the tree of life, see the world, and perhaps pour out the occasional stream of measured wisdom and simply bask in the joy of listening to brothers telling much. Because he was witty, he enjoyed the wits and banters of the brods.

I saw him again at the Otso-otso reunion in Toronto. Aside from gaining a few pounds, he was the same old Noli, with that same cheerful glint in his eyes, with that same humble willingness to listen to others speak, even if they were merely Mon Abad’s non-sequiturs, or Angelo Castro’s aesthetic evaluation of Canadian women, or the mocked sound and fury of his fellow travellers pitching editorials at the quality or pretensions thereof, of Canadian wines. Bottom-line, he was a gentleman and a good company.

We will miss him, our fellow Noli Enriquez, a tried and true Upsilonian. But like all Upsilonians who went before us, we will see him again when we are united for that Great Banquet in the Hereafter, when we toast each other to say, “We’re Upsilonians. For this title we proudly bear. Through tears and laughter, we are one everytime, everywhere.”

And the years, and even the mortal separation, will not break us, because we had heard each other. When I see you, Brother, in the Sun, I shall tell you much.