Yolo County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....SAN BUENAVENTURA , Steffi  November 22 2002
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Peggy B. Perazzo pbperazzo@comcast.net July 17, 2004, 12:37 am

"The Davis Enterprise," Wednesday, November 27, 2002
Steffi San Buenaventura

Asian American studies faculty, staff and students at UC Davis mourn the loss of
Professor Steffi San Buenaventura.

A distinguished historian and professor of Filipino American history in Asian
American studies at UCD, she died peacefully at her home in Davis on Nov. 22,
2002, after a long and courageous struggle with cancer.

She arrived at UCD from UC Riverside in November 1999. She was a beloved teacher
and mentor to her many students at Davis and an active scholar, colleague and
friend to the faculty and staff who worked with her.

She was born on Aug. 7,1941, and raised in Manila, Philippines. She attended
Maryknoll College and graduated with a degree in English literature and a minor
in journalism.

She attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., and did her graduate work
at the University of the Philippines in Metro Manila, Philippines. She received
a Ph.D. in American studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, in 1990.

She was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA in 1991. She then taught at
UC Irvine and at UC Riverside, where she was appointed as faculty in ethnic
studies. She came to UCD as an associate professor in Asian American studies in
1999.

Her research interests were in American ethnicity, immigration history, race
relations, social movements, religion, Asian American studies (emphasis on
Filipino American history), Asian diaspora and Philippine-U.S. relations. She
added a richness and distinction to UCD's program curriculum through her
committee work and courses that students have long waited for: Asian American
history, Filipino American experience, Filipino American social movements, and
Race and ethnicity in Hawaii.

She had hoped to develop a course on historical research methodologies in Asian
American studies and to develop Filipino American experience research projects
throughout California with the students she mentored and taught in her classes.

She published a number of scholarly articles on Filipino American history and
experience. Her most recent essays include a chapter titled "Filipino Religion
at Home and Abroad: Historical Roots and Immigrant Transformation" in "Religions
of Asian America: Building Faith Communities," an edited volume by Pyong Gap Min
and Jung Ha Kim published by AltaMira Press (December 2001); a reprinted essay
"Filipino Folk Spirituality and Immigration: From Mutual-Aid to Religion" in
"New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans," an edited volume by David
Yoo published by the University of Hawaii Press (2001); and an essay "The Colors
of Manifest Destiny: Filipinos and the American Other(s)" in Amerasia Journal
(1998).

At the time of her death, she was completing a much-anticipated book, "Nativism,
Ethnicity and Empowerment: A Filipino American Socio-Religious Movement
(1925-1975)," which was under contract to Stanford University Press. It was to
be the first in-depth study of Filipino American community formation, beyond
standard historical narratives that simply emphasize the role of Filipinos as
laborers in Hawaiian and West Coast agriculture.

The book was charting the path of Filipinos and their migration to California
and Hawaii, conveying the rich and complex Filipino indigenous cultural life as
well as the Western colonial pressures that settlers faced throughout their
migrations and settlements.

She is survived by a daughter, Michelle Peixinho; grandchildren, Taro Sakulich
and Malaya Peixinho; son-in-law, Mateo Peixinho; mother, Sylvia Salumbides;
sister, Nona Posadas; and many other family and friends.

The immediate family and representatives of the UCD Asian American studies
department are planning a memorial service for early January in Davis. Plans for
a memorial fund in her memory will be announced later.

For updates and where to send cards, contact Kathy Entao, the ASA program
coordinator, at the Asian American Studies office, 752-3625 or
kmentao@ucdavis.edu.


Additional Comments:
Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street,
Davis, CA 95616.

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