Sr. Leticia Regala Sds

June 8, 1935 — May 9, 2025

Leticia ("Letty") Regala was born on June 8, 1935, a few years before the outbreak of World War II, in Cebu City, the Philippines, to Dr. Jose Tolentino and Consolacion Tolentino. She was the fourth of five children. Raised in Cebu City, she finished her primary and secondary education at St. Theresa's College, Cebu, then received her BSN from Philippine Women's University and her MA from Teacher's College, Columbia University. With regard to her early formation, she expressed deep gratitude that her parents had given her a good foundation in her Catholic faith. It was while working and studying in New York that Letty met her future husband, Dr. Emilio ("Butch") Regala, Jr., also a native of the Philippines, who was completing his medical residency in New York. The two returned to the Philippines and soon immersed themselves in raising their family of six children. The family lived in Cebu, and Letty worked as a nurse and also taught nursing since she enjoyed helping others in whatever way she could. In 1973, amidst the political turmoil in the Philippines, the couple decided to move their family to Baltimore, Maryland, where several of Letty's siblings and their families were already living. From there, the family moved to Hartford, Wisconsin, in 1976, where Letty continued to work as a nurse, raised her family, and was actively involved in parish life and Cursillo. Among her fondest memories from this time were attending over 30 graduations of her children from kindergarten to post-graduate work. Following the death of her husband in 1992, Letty served in 1994 as a full-time health coordinator at Redlands Christian Migrant Association in Homestead, Florida. She retired from nursing and began to discern a vocation to religious life. Sr. Letty's life as a Sister of the Divine Savior began on September 1997, when she entered the Salvatorian Candidature in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sr. Letty took first vows on August 2000, and pronounced perpetual vows in June 2005, both in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sister Letty often shared how her previous experiences as a wife and mother prepared her for the life of community and service as a Salvatorian sister. "Married life actually prepared me for religious life and community," she explained. The virtues of generosity, flexibility, and openness to change became cornerstones of her life as she thrived within her new family of sisters, finding joy and camaraderie among them. Sister Letty maintained strong family ties, balancing her new life while ensuring her loved ones saw the happiness and fulfillment her new life brought her. The Salvatorians became an integral part of her family, a testament to her belief that faith binds us together in unique and powerful ways. Her journey took her to places far and wide, enriching her soul and expanding her perspective. During her time as a chaplain and a pastoral team member in Phoenix, and as part of her immersion experience with Salvatorian Sisters in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sister Letty engaged deeply with communities facing the challenges of poverty and wealth disparity, echoing the realities she had witnessed in her own upbringing. She was involved in a variety of paid and volunteer ministries during her time in Arizona (2000-2004 and 2008-2021). Her paid ministries included a few years as a chaplain at Arizona State Hospital, part-time prison ministry, and care giver to homebound elderly. She was also active with Valley Interfaith and at St. Francis Xavier Parish with Legion of Mary, singing in the choir, and taking Eucharist to shut-ins. She also served several years on the Diocese of Phoenix intercommunity vocation committee where she helped staff the annual vocation retreats and quarterly discernment days. She and Sister Georgene Faust regularly hosted the Salvatorian family at the convent after the Society left the diocese, and they no longer had a parish to use. Sister Letty saw her call to religious life as an act of Divine Providence. A chance encounter in Milwaukee, where she found a Salvatorian card at Mass, set her on a path she embraced with open arms. From that moment, she felt a sense of belonging, joining with other sisters who celebrated life to the fullest, fueled by a shared mission to make Jesus the Savior better known and loved. In the autumn of 2021, when Sister Georgene needed to move back to Milwaukee for additional medical care, the house in Phoenix was closed and Sister Letty returned to Milwaukee to join the community at the Salvatorian Sisters Residence, where she spent the ensuing years in prayerful reflection, simple service, and kind companionship. On May 9, 2025, she was killed in an automobile accident on her way to attend yet another of her favorite occasions—a family graduation celebration. She was 89 years old and professed for 24 years. And written by her family: Sister Letty Tolentino Regala, 89, died on May 9 after a motor vehicle accident while traveling to her granddaughter's nursing school graduation. She was proud to be witnessing the fourth generation of nurses in the family, and even after sustaining catastrophic injuries, she held on long enough to be surrounded by love—her daughter, granddaughters, and fellow Salvatorian sisters—receiving the last rites in peace. Letty was born in 1935 in Cebu, the Philippines, to Dr. Jose Tolentino and Consolacion Atega, a nurse. She was the fourth of five siblings—Ernesto, Carmen, Lucy, and Mariano—and grew up in a family where love, service, and education were sacred values. Each summer, the extended clan gathered in an ancestral home in Cabadbaran, where over a dozen cousins grew up more like siblings. Those bonds endured across decades and oceans—so close, that she insisted after the death of her husband, that her children (and their children) get together once a year. That clan would eventually name their family reunion "Regalapalooza," which despite a few misses has met annually for over 20 years. Letty's early life was marked by history. She received her First Communion on December 8, 1941—the same day the Japanese bombed the Philippines, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Her family fled Cebu City and took refuge in a leprosarium run by Belgian nuns. Those wartime nuns became tutors, inspiration, and maybe something more—a glimpse into the kind of life Letty would eventually choose. That devotion to science and medicine also led every one of her siblings to enter a healing profession: nurses, doctors, and a pharmacist (and to also marry a spouse in the healing professions). She earned a master's degree in education at Columbia University, where she met Dr. Emilio "Butch" Regala, a Filipino physician training at Albert Einstein Medical Center. They married in 1960 and returned to Cebu to raise their children. But life under the Marcos regime became increasingly dangerous for professionals who spoke up. In 1973, they immigrated to the United States with six children and a suitcase full of dreams. They eventually settled in Wisconsin, where Letty worked as a nurse and cared for her children with fierce devotion and a gentle sense of humor. After Butch's death in 1992, Letty began a new chapter. She had long felt called to religious life, a dream deferred by marriage and motherhood. In her 60s, she joined the Salvatorian order, professing final vows surrounded by the same family she had once raised in pews. As Sister Letty, she volunteered in jails, served at food pantries, and offered quiet companionship to those facing death or despair. She once described her role as "being with people when they feel invisible." She did it with grace. She was a woman of deep Catholic faith and even deeper compassion, who lived her life in widening circles—from Cebu to Columbia to Wisconsin to wherever the Spirit took her next. She had a keen eye for beauty, a love of sweets (she never missed dessert) and a fierce loyalty to her family. She believed in education, good food, and showing up. Sister Letty is preceded in death by her husband Butch, her parents, and her brother Mariano. She is survived by her three remaining siblings (Ernesto, Carmen and Lucy); her six children: Emmanuel (Manny) and his spouse, Susan, Benjamin (Ben) and his spouse Amy, Rebecca (Becky) and her spouse Dan, Philip (Phil) and his spouse Sue, Emilio III (Ninoy) and his spouse Kristina and Christopher (Peary) and his spouse Michelle; her grandchildren: Peter, Marie, Alexander, Samantha, Matthew, Lucy, Gracie, Bella, Tiffany, Kathryn, Almae, Gregory, William, Max, and Tessa, who all knew her as their biggest cheerleader and prayer warrior; and her Salvatorian Family.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Sr. Leticia Regala Sds, please visit our flower store.

Send a Card