Obituary of Florentina Spille

Florentina Gotauco Bautista Spille, cherished wife, sister and aunt, died peacefully in her sleep at 91 years of age on October 8, 2023.  Florentina was born on June 20, 1932, in Imus, Cavite, Philippines to Ambrosio S. Bautista, Sr. and Lorenza G. Bautista and was the fifth out of nine siblings.  She earned her Bachelor and Master of Arts in Piano Performance from the University of the Philippines. 

With a fervent love for music, Florentina touched countless people in her communities with her impassioned joy for performing.  In 1969, she led a student group performance at the opening of the Philippine Cultural Center in Manila.   She immigrated to the United States in 1971 and became a New York City elementary school music teacher in Brooklyn.   She found pure delight in cultivating her students’ musical talents which she continued to encourage as a private piano teacher upon retirement.  

She married her soulmate, Harold Spille in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in New York City on July 9, 1978.  They built a devoted life together of love, adventure and laughter in their home in Englishtown, New Jersey where she enthusiastically hosted annual music recitals for her piano students.  A woman of deep faith, she was an organist at St Gabriel’s Church and St. Thomas More.  An avid gardener, plants and flowers under her care would blossom beautifully like her students.

She now joins Harold in heaven and is also predeceased by her parents and her siblings Amancio Bautista, Leonila B. Inosanto, Romana B. Flores, Benjamin Bautista, and Ambrosio Bautista Jr.  She is survived by her siblings Rafael Bautista, Dr. Elizabeth B. Jarin, Fe B. Santos and several loving nieces, nephews, godchildren, grandnieces, and grandnephews whom she adored.       

Visitation services will be on Friday, October 13th from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Freeman Funeral Home, 344 US Highway 9 N, Manalapan, NJ.  A funeral mass in her honor will take place on Saturday, October 14th at 10:00 a.m. at St. Thomas More Church, 186 Gordon’s Corner Road, Manalapan, NJ followed by interment at St. Gabriel’s Cemetery, 549 State Route 520, Marlboro, NJ.