Arsenio Alcantara Cosico

Arsenio Alcantara Cosico (83) of Lincoln, CA passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 24, 2024, after his long battle with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Arsenio, fondly known as Sonny, was a loving father, grandfather, brother, friend, and master chef of dinuguan.  He was a wonderful man and will always be cherished. 
Sonny’s story began on June 19,1940, the twin to Armando Cosico, and second to youngest of eight children to Cirilo and Florencia Cosico. He was born and raised in his beloved hometown of Candelaria, Quezon, Philippines. He earned a master’s degree in Social Planning from the University of Wales, UK, a master’s degree in Extension Education and a PHD in Community Development both from the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB).  He was also a fellow of the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank.  He became an assistant professor in Community Development at UP Diliman Quezon and the Director of Research at the UPLB (Institute of Agrarian Studies). It was at UPLB where he met the love of his life, Gloria Pascua.  Sonny and Gloria had a whirlwind romance and were married in Candelaria on September 27, 1975; they had two children, Mia (Mutya) and Dinah (Amihan). Gloria, Mia, and Dinah immigrated to California in 1982; Sonny followed a year later. The family lived in Newark, CA for 39 years before moving to Lincoln, CA in 2021.
Sonny was renowned for his cooking; it was his passion and how he showed his love. Everyone always knew they would have plenty of homemade delicious food to eat if Sonny was cooking. He made the best pancit, chicharrón, leche flan, ginataang, steamed blue crab with ginger, garlic shrimp, and, of course, his renowned crowd favorite, dinuguan. Friends and family would request his dinuguan on every special occasion.  
Sonny’s love for cooking was deeply rooted in his love for his hometown of Candelaria.  It was in Candelaria where Sonny learned how to cook. He harvested fruits and vegetables from the family garden and cooked with chickens and pigs raised at home. After immigrating to America, Sonny helped to establish the Candelaria Association of Northern California and took pride in serving as the president for a number of years. The Candelaria Association is a charitable association that holds fundraisers and events to help their community back home, but equally important, it is also a social group that allows its members to feel connected to their hometown and Sonny thought of them all as an extension of his family.
Sonny spent his life diligently studying/learning, passionately cooking, and gingerly tending to one of his other passions, orchids.  But more than anything else, Sonny adored and valued time spent with his family, especially his grandchildren. Sonny’s grandchildren were his heart and joy. There’s no denying that, “his Mihan” and “his Abram” were the people that he loved the most. He took extreme pride in their academic excellence as well as Amihan’s musical talents and Abram’s basketball abilities.
Although Sonny is no longer with us, his story will live on through his family.  Loved ones that will carry on his legacy are his daughter and son in-law Mia Cosico and Bryan Manaois; his daughter and son in-law, Dinah Cosico Goldberg and Jeremy Goldberg, his grandchildren Amihan Manaois and Abram Goldberg, and his sisters Gloria Perez and Nelia DeRamos.

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