Marilag Radovan Rivera

Marilag Radovan Rivera, age 87, passed away peacefully on Friday, November 21, 2025, in Bel Air, Maryland.

Born in the Philippines, Marilag was the beloved daughter of the late Pedro N. Radovan and Lorenza M. Lagaya. She was the amazing wife of the late Alfredo Juan Rivera, and together they built a life filled with dedication, faith, and family.

A devoted wife and mother (who cooked so many things that she did not want to cook for the merriment of her boys), Marilag was known for her strength, resilience, kindness, and unwavering nurturing spirit. At only 17 years old, she left the Philippines and moved to New York to pursue an education with the understanding that there would be no going back. It was one of the truest reflections of who she was and would be - sure wholly of herself, to hell with the safe and familiar. She would later establish herself as a highly respected and accomplished (and likely somewhat feared) Registered Nurse, a feat that came as no surprise to those that knew her.

In New York, Marilag met her beloved husband, Alfredo. Despite being courted fervently by several soon-to-be medical giants, it was a seemingly simple Civil Engineer who would tower above such potentials. Fate would soon after putting two sons upon them and send them from the bustling streets of Queens they called home to a quieter life across the river in New Jersey.

Those two sons would grow to fiercely test the woman who neither bent nor broke to their will (or anyone’s for that matter). To reward her defiance, both grew to achieve distinguished careers— Alfredo Rivera, a physician, and Alex Rivera, a Mechanical Engineer. Marilag was endlessly proud of her children and the lives they built.

Marilag was also very proud of her work. The strength she exhibited at home was matched only by the resolve with which she entered her tenure at the Center for Living - General Hospital of Perth Amboy, NJ. The entrance to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Ward was through a guarded, roll-down steel door. Whether this door was a measure to keep patients in or to keep the rest of the world out did not matter to Marilag. She showed up and kept showing up for the people that needed her to. Come victory or defeat, hell or high water, in the place where hearts break and hope caves, that’s where you would find her.

Afterwards, Marilag developed a deep love for travel. This love would come to define her to all who knew her. Alfredo did not share this love, but that did not deter her. She found her groups and set forth with them instead. Each time she returned to him with endless stories so he could experience them from a place comfortably out of her way.

Marilag leaves behind a legacy of love, strength, and compassion; a testament of will - to go her own way and chase down what she wanted to be.

Her memory will remain forever in the hearts of those she cherished.