Jamie Vergara

The man, the realest, the legend. Phil Dancel.

It was a normal morning for me. I had walked into the office ready to start my day and blow through it knowing it was a long holiday weekend. I get a phone call from Father Rafael, “Barok. Pray hard. It’s your Tito Phil. He’s in the ER, and I am on the way to anoint him.” My heart stopped. The man I just saw yesterday morning and gave a big hug to — I was on the edge of my seat.

I guess to kick it off, who was Phil Dancel and why did he mean so much to me?

My family and I were active in an organization called Couples for Christ/Youth for Christ for many years. So were the Dancel family. The Dancel family are based in Jacksonville, and I was born and raised in West Palm. Our paths would cross here and there when I visited Jax, and my older sisters and their son were in the same generation for YFC and even bonus, went to UF together.

After I graduated UNF, I moved to Atlantic Beach because I loved the area — had my church, gym, and the Beaches Town Center. I was at Mass one day, and a woman commented on my “Young Catholic Professionals” shirt. Told me her son is apart of that group and we started chatting. When I asked what their last name was and they told me Dancel, all I thought was, what a small world. I knew of the Dancel parents but did not think we would cross paths like this. Long story short, a bond was created and I was always hanging out with them. People at church would ask if I am their daughter or grand daughter and I always would say, “It’s an honor you thought that.”

Tita Grace and Tito Phil were one of the families in Jax that always opened their doors to me. They always made it known they miss me, they are praying for me, and were advocates for me. There was a time I was unemployed, I had quit EY and was actively interviewing for jobs, and they had my back during the whole process. At the same time, I was at their house for dinner almost everyday until Dun & Bradstreet extended me an offer. I still continued to do dinner with them at least once a week. In between traveling and flights, I would try to see them before or after I got back. They were always on my list of people to visit and I loved seeing them. We’d eat together, pray together, catch up about life. It was a good way for me to bounce back into things after a weekend out in NYC or something. At my lowest points in life, they had no idea what I was going through but just being with them made me stronger. Tito Phil treated everyone with kindness without any strings attached. He was one of those that was nice because it was the right thing to do and not for extra credit or photo ops.

Phil Dancel always gave 110% of himself to the church and to his family. And it’s something I need to take to prayer that one day I can do the same. The man was in a wheelchair but was still making hand crafted wood goods for the church, cleaning up the church weekly, went to mass every single day, and was always the man who said hello to someone who might have needed a smile. He never made excuses of why he couldn’t and no defibrillator and heart condition ever stopped him from being the amazing person he was.

Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. It simply means I’ll miss you, until we meet again.

I love you long time, Tito Phil. You filled my heart with so much joy and love. If I couldn’t be there for my Grandpa’s in the Philippines, I knew the Lord was asking me to be there for you.