The following eulogy was prepared and presented by Tara Temkar, Daisy's daughter.
Daisy Cabahug Perez was born on November 14, 1951 in mandaue, Cebu to Carlos Perez and Candelaria Cabahug. She was the youngest of eight siblings, so she was automatically her fathers favorite (according to her brother Eli, who often got into trouble with their father when daisy would tell on him after a fight). She , like her siblings, loved to grow plants, and kept many of them around the house. Her favorite flower was the orchid.
Daisy moved to Columbia, MO in the mid 70s to complete her masters in food science. She had applied for a a job in an engineering lab, when destiny brought her to meet her future husband Prakash Temkar, who was completing his PhD in engineering. However, Daisy failed to tell Prakash that her brother in law, Warren Zahler, was actually Prakash's biochemistry teacher. After Prakash discovered that fact, he started trying harder to impress Daisy and her family. For example, he started eating Filipino food. Before, he was strictly a vegetarian when he lived in India.
Daisy and Prakash were happily married four years later. A year after their marriage they had their first child Arvin. Seven years later, their second child Tara was born. Her greatest achievements (besides giving birth to Tara) was being a wonderful mother, wife and teacher. She taught her us many life lessons, and emphasized the importance of receiving a good education. She often referred to us as "badlungon bataa". She was a strong woman with a tough exterior. She never showed her emotions and hardly told her children and husband she loved them. Instead she showed her emotions through her actions by cooking us delicious meals or by telling her children to come home before it got dark. But when we weren't around, she would talk about us to the family. She would tell them about our achievements in school or work, and express her concern for her husband who can't cook. Deep down underneath her hard exterior, she was a caretaker at heart, which made her undoubtedly the best mother ever.
Daisy passed away on November 24, 2013 at 4 AM. She was in a coma, but held on for 3 days until her family was by her side. It was a miraculous moment when she tried to wake up from her coma for a moment to say good bye to us. Her passing was a painless one, but we know she is still watching over her family and the plants she left in Japan for her husband to take care of.
Our family would like to thank everyone who has given us their condolences. Your support and kind words mean a lot to us, and have helped our family stay strong. We would also like to thank the people who selflessly sacrificed their time to help take care of daisy while she was sick. I personally would like to thank my dabarkad BFFs here in Cebu and my best friends from the United States and japan who have helped support me emotionally throughout the entire time my mother was sick. So, to everyone who has helped us out in our time of need, we will never be able to express how thankful we are to you.