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The oldest of seven children, Reverend Robert (Kuya) Alamodin was born in Samar, the Philippines, but raised in the US after his father joined the US Navy and relocated the family to the San Francisco Bay Area when Kuya was just five years old. His youth and adolescence were defined by household chores, caring for his younger siblings, multiple paper routes, and the trials and tribulations of an immigrant boy whose father was largely absent.
After decades in the service industry, primarily here on Maui, in more recent times Reverend Kuya has worked as a certified nursing assistant, a personal caregiver for special needs adults, a staff member at Special Olympic events, and a hospice volunteer for those facing life’s greatest transition. The former altar boy may never have found his calling as a wedding officiant had it not been for the tragic misfortune of a friend. Through one of those bittersweet twists in life, Reverend Kuya follows in the footsteps of a dear brother, the late Marc Grodan of Maui. Upon receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, Marc, the founder of Affordable Maui Wedding Company, was grateful to pass the baton to Kuya in 2010. The rest, as they say, is history. |