Brigida Guzman Lizama - Obituary

rigida Reyes Guzman Lizama, 79, died on April 30, in Arlington, VA. She had lived in Arlington for 5 years and in the Washington, DC, area, including Oxon Hill, MD, for four decades. A proud Chamorro, she was born in Hagatna, Guam, the oldest of the seven children of Ana Reyes Guzman and Jose "lcha" Guzman, a well-known Guamanian baseball player. Educated in Guam, she married Roberto L. G. Lizama in 1949 and left the island in 1951 to follow his U. S. Navy career in San Diego and Vallejo, CA, Albuquerque, NM. Though the family returned to Guam to live for a brief period in the late 1960's, Mrs. Lizama spent most of her life in the Washington, DC, area. During that time her husband, by then a Chief Petty Officer, worked as a White House chef during four presidential administrations. Mrs. Lizama became active in the Guam Society of America and was particularly engaged with the society's Roberto L.G. Lizama Memorial Classic, a golf tournament named for her husband after his death in 2000. Mrs. Lizama is survived by six sons: George of Falls Church, VA, Robaire of Arlington, VA, Stan(Jeanne) of Owings, MD, Jeff(Sharon) of Springfield, VA, Wayne(Deborah) of Vienna, VA and Eric(Jaime) Lizama of South Riding, VA. She also is survived by six grandsons, a granddaughter, two great-grandsons, two sisters and four brothers. Relatives and friends are invited to Mrs. Lizama's Life Celebration at the GEORGE P. KALAS FUNERAL HOME, 6160 Oxon Hill Rd., Oxon Hill, MD 20745 on Wednesday, May 19 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at The Cathedral of St. Thomas More, 3901 Cathedral Ln., Arlington, VA on Thursday, May 20 at 10:30am. Interment will follow at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to the Roberto L.G. Lizama Memorial Classic, Guam Society of America, P.O. Box 1515, Washington, DC 20013 or visit the web at www.brigidalizamamemorial.com . The tournament raises money to support scholarships and Chamorro social and cultural programs.