THE nobLE FAMILY
Born on February 14, 1905, in Luna, La Union in the island of Luzon Philippines, Mr. Honorato Castillo Noble first came to Hawaii on December 9,1927 to work in the sugarcane and pineapple fields in 1929. He followed his brother Emilio Castillo Noble who arrived in the Aloha state five-months earlier.
A year later they voyaged to San Francisco together and they eventually made their way to Watsonville where they worked in agriculture. Honorato’s daughterLupe Noble shared he came to the United States in search of job opportunities with his brother Emilio Castillo Noble. According to military records, Honorato joined the Army and served in WWII from 1942-1943 . After the war, he followed crops up and down the state and even into Arizona working as a farm laborer. It was at this time where hemet his wife Manuela Paniagua Noble, a Mexican national. The couple married in 1948 in Hidalgo County New Mexico and came back to Watsonville to settle down. Soon after the vows were exchanged, the family expanded with thebirths of their children: Rick, Lupe, Jimmy, Jose “Santanna,” and Maria Rosario “Rosie.”
In 1954 trauma and tragedy struck the family as US immigration services deported Mrs. Noble while she waspregnant with the couple’s youngest daughter Alicia. This unthinkable action took place despite Honorato Noblebeing a US veteran. Mr. Noble instantly became a single father and was left to raise the family in Watsonville alone.
He worked for many years at J.J.Crossetti, Bud Antle and Sakata Ranch as a farm laborer. The family lived at 21 Main Street in downtown where the children could walk to Radcliff school, shop at Day-Lite and the fish markets. Both Rickand Santanna followed their father into the military. They both served in the Vietnam War. As adults, the siblings wereable to reunite in Los Angeles with their mother and the sister that they haven't met, Alicia. Mr. Noble passed away inNovember of 1985 and Mrs. Noble died recently in May of 2019.
Emilio Noble married Olivia Noble and settled in Gilroy where he owned and ran a barbershop for many years. The couple had no biological children.
My dad was a good father, he did the best he could,” Lupe Noble said. “He would take us to all the chicken fights andcommunity gatherings. As children, we learned to have a strong work ethic, kindness and respect towards others.”