Perlita Liwanag Memorial Scholarship

The Perlita Liwanag Memorial Scholarship was established in memory of Perlita Liwanag who lost her life to pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this scholarship is to support the financial needs of a deserving young adult in the Washington, DC Metro area (Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia) seeking higher education within the U.S. and who:

          - Lost a parent/guardian or sibling to cancer

       -Has a parent/guardian or sibling living with cancer

       -Has been diagnosed with cancer themselves

Perlita was born in the Philippines to Maria & Cesario.  In 1972, she immigrated to the United States to give her family a better life. Together with her husband, Cezar, she raised three children, Maria, Jay, and Anna in Rockville, MD.  Perlita strongly believed in continuing education and was an inspiring role model forher children. She received a Master’s degree from the University of Maryland while working full-time as a chemist at NIH and raising a family.

Perlita’s family came first and foremost—her love for music, dancing, travelling and food was infused within her family. She and her husband could be often found on the dance floor even during her time battling her illness with pancreatic cancer.  She truly lived life to its fullest, enjoying traveling to different parts of the country and world visiting family and friends.   She was a loving wife and mother who showed great enthusiasm and pride when watching her kids at sporting events, music/dance recitals and events at school. The best moments, however, were the simple ones when the family would eat dinner around the dinner table every night.

Her strong faith, quiet determination and love helped her live with pancreatic cancer surviving for over a year prior to passing in April 2001.  Her family’s experience in watching the grace she 

portrayed in living with cancer has inspired her family to keep her legacy alive and give back through the development of this scholarship.   Perlita would be proud to see that a young adult will benefit from this scholarship in her name tohelp with their education and continuous learning.

This scholarship is only available to students living in the MD, DC or VA area.