Violeta Panis was born in Agoo, La Union, Philippines. The oldest of six siblings, she lived with her grandmother from age nine through high school. She completed her nursing training in the Philippines and worked for a short time at the Chinese General Hospital in Manila before immigrating to the U.S. at age twenty-four. She came to the U.S. through an agency that placed Filipino nurses in U.S. hospitals and was placed in Methodist Hospital. The rest of her siblings and her parents eventually moved to Canada. After working in several different units at Methodist for over forty years, she retired. During those forty years, she married her husband, Rolando Panis (also interviewed for this archive), and raised five children, including Christy Poisot (also interviewed for this archive). She now actively participates in church, gardens, and helps take care of her grandchildren.
View interview transcript PDF — Full interview materials on Rice Digital Scholarship