Dr. Elena Eustaquio Icayan was born on April 27, 1927, in San Juan, Philippines. She passed away peacefully on February 28, 2025, at her home in Richland, WA, at the age of 97.

Elena was born in the Philippines as one of 14 siblings. After completing her college education, she pursued medical training at the University of the Philippines Manila School of Medicine, graduating in 1953. The following year, she met and married Pompeyo O. Icayan, and together they had 4 children. In 1961 Elena earned a Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland where she conducted research on the effects of Vitamin B12 deficiency on cholesterol metabolism.

Elena went on to serve as Chair of the Biochemistry Department at the University of the East in the Philippines, where she mentored and taught many students for several years. In 1972, she and her family relocated to the United States, settling first in Portland, Oregon. There, she completed a U.S. medical internship at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center before being accepted into a Nuclear Medicine residency at the University of Washington, which she completed in 1974.

After finishing residency, she became the medical director of Donor Life, a subsidiary of Cutter Laboratories, in Seattle, where she worked for a year. She then moved to Richland, Washington to join the medical staff of Hanford Environmental Health Foundation. Several years later, she took a position at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Pasco, Washington as their nuclear medicine specialist where she practiced until her early 80s.

In her younger years, Elena had a passion for mystery novels and maintained a deep appreciation of fashion throughout her life. She especially loved orchids, which were her favorite flowers. She was considered the matriarch of her family and, with her husband, loved spending time with all of her children and grandchildren.

She is survived by her sons Erwin Icayan (70), Ron Icayan (68), Cesar Icayan (60) and daughter Liza Tung (61) and their spouses as well as her grandchildren Bradley (47), Shaun (44), Eric (39), Ashley (37), Lorien (35), Brittany (34), Austin (31), Kinzie (29), Marty (26) and many great grandchildren.