Leandro “Lany” Tapay has lived an amazing life in his 86 years, surviving World War II in the rural Philippines, then coming to the United States, originally to study for the priesthood, and then enjoying fulfilling careers despite enduring discrimination as a high school guidance counselor and as missions director for the Diocese of Columbus.

Tapay tells his story in an autobiography titled “Fragments from the Table of Life,” published in October 2023 and available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

“I wrote the book not so much for widespread publication but for a way to tell my children and grandchildren about my life from the beginning,” Tapay said. 

“I would tell them things about surviving the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II and being caught in the crossfire between Japanese and Allied forces when I was 7 or 8 years old, and about growing up in the Philippines after they gained their independence from the United States after the war. 

“They wanted to know more, so I decided to put it all down. The coronavirus pandemic helped give me time to gather my thoughts.”

A theme that runs throughout the book is Tapay’s strong Catholic faith and his reliance on the Virgin Mary for help in times of trouble.

“Every time I’m in a mess, like a child, I go to my mother,” he said. “She never fails to give me consolation and wrap me in a warm embrace. Any time I’m in a valley, she always comes through.

“God is like a good chess player placing me in situations to accomplish His will. Many things have happened to me that I didn’t understand at the time but now recognize as God putting me in a certain place at a certain time to achieve His purpose. 

“God continues to have plans for me, and there’s nothing powerful enough to derail them.”

Tapay was educated by the Salesian order of priests for 10 years in the Philippines and became assistant principal and a trustee of an orphanage in Cebu City known then as Salesian Boys Town and now as Don Bosco Technical College.

The Salesians were going to send him to the Holy Land to continue studies for the priesthood in 1967, but because the Six-Day War broke out in the Middle East, he was sent instead to the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus – one of the many unexpected occurrences he feels were part of God’s plan for him.

After discerning that he was not being called to the priesthood, he taught for one year each at Catholic schools in North Dakota and Toledo, where he met his wife of 52 years, Dolores. He returned to Ohio to pursue a position as a school counselor, worked at Worthington Industries for a while and eventually was hired by London (Ohio) High School for a one-year counseling position that stretched into a 35-year career.

Tapay, who is 5-foot-2 and retains a strong Filipino accent, tells in the book that this worked against him at first, with the head of the guidance department being among those openly hostile to him. But his enthusiastic personality and willingness to talk to the young people he worked with made him popular among students and won over his critics.

He retired from his counseling position in 2007 and thought he would spend his retirement fishing in the Carolinas. But before he could move south, he saw a Catholic Times ad saying the Diocese of Columbus was looking for a missions director. He thought his experience being taught by missionary priests would be useful, so he went for an interview with Deacon Tom Berg Jr., diocesan chancellor, and was hired on the spot.

He spent 13 years with the diocese before reluctantly retiring from his second career at age 83 to become a full-time caregiver for his wife at a time when COVID was shutting down much of life in the United States.

“The biggest problem in writing the book was time,” he said. “As my wife’s caregiver, I could write down my recollections only when she was sleeping and I was about to go to bed, or whenever I had a respite from taking care of her for some reason. My train of thought was always being interrupted.”

He completed the book in April 2022 (the author of this review assisted him with editing), and it took another year for him to find a reputable publisher – Christian Faith Publishing of Meadville, Pennsylvania – and get the book ready for release. He has nearly completed a second book that will tell of his life as a caregiver and how his faith has strengthened him in that difficult role.

The Tapays have four children, three of whom live in the Columbus area and one in Seattle. They also have 12 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. “One of my grandsons lives in the Philippines and teaches English in Subic Bay, which used to be a large U.S. Navy base and now is an international free-trade zone,” Tapay said.

“He’s been able to see much more of the Philippines than I did, and he’s been back to the village where I grew up. I didn’t include this in the book, but I feel his return completes a circle for me and that God has been responsible for everything within that circle.”

Leandro “Lany” Tapay’s book costs $21.95 in print or Kindle form – discounts are available – and can be ordered on barnesandnoble.com at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fragments-from-the-table-of-life-leandro-lany-maniwang-tapay/1143444034 or amazon.com at https://a.co/d/9RsK8Bc. All of the royalties from Fragments, Footprints and subsequent work are donated to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.