I am saddened by the demise of Naty Crame-Rogers, truly a grand lady of Philippine theater. She and her husband, Colonel Joe Rogers, were proactive contacts of the Embassy of the U.S.A. in Manila during the time that I was employed there. Her life turned bleak when Joe passed away some years ago. She had to sell their fabulous house in Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig--a house I will well remember for its huge, white, Thai spirit house that guests were invited to pour water on, her life-size portrait by a famous Thai artist, their son's wonderful oil paintings, their framed, batik collection, the awesome, rustic, open-air buffet parapet along the side of their dining room, and, of course, the living room where her Sala Theater Group performed a variety of chamber plays.

Before I retired from work I was able to help Naty out by purchasing from her the Thai bed and two side tables that were located in a corner of their master's bedroom and an ornate, brass, Thai cremation urn. In turn she gifted me with her mask collection from Indonesia and Thailand, including a pair of comedy-tragedy masks from New Orleans, a bronze image of the goddess of fire that she instructed me to hang somewhere in the center of our house, a set of hand-painted, clay, katakali dancer statuettes, and a pair of hard-rubber statuettes from Borneo. Most of these were gifts to her by her admirers from Asia. 

I should have visited her, but I thought that she would live forever.