For decades, Dr. Nenita Lanaria Suarez and Dr. Ramon U. Suarez have shared a life built around medicine, family and service.
They established distinguished medical careers in Lebanon, Pennsylvania; raised three accomplished sons; and joined humanitarian and medical missions to underserved communities in the Philippines.
Their story is more than that of a husband-and-wife medical team. Each built a distinguished career and advocacy of their own, while together turning professional success into a lifelong mission of service.
Born in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental, Dr. Nenita was the seventh of nine children of Lucia Uy and Melecio Lanaria. She studied medicine at Southwestern University in Cebu City, where she was a Winthrop Stearns Scholar and University Scholar. She graduated magna cum laude in 1962 and placed third in the Philippine Medical Board Examination in 1963.
Dr. Nenita completed her internship and internal medicine residency in Baltimore, Maryland, followed by fellowship training in pulmonary disease at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia.
At the Veterans Hospital in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, she held several leadership posts, including director of respiratory therapy, director of the pulmonary function laboratory, director of the pulmonary ward, smoking control officer and tuberculosis control officer. She also served as a clinical assistant professor at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and became a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians.
Dr. Ramon became a Diplomate of the American Board of Urology, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a former assistant clinical professor of surgery and urology at Penn State’s College of Medicine in Hershey.
After learning about the no-scalpel vasectomy technique in 1989, Dr. Ramon traveled to China in 1990 to train under Dr. Li Shunqiang, who developed the technique. Upon returning to Pennsylvania, he helped train physicians and urology residents in the procedure.
Building a mission together
In 2001, Dr. Nenita and Dr. Ramon, together with engineer Robert “Bob” Kiamco and Dr. Benita Kiamco, organized a pioneering vasectomy mission to the Philippines using their own resources.
The following year, they formalized the effort through No-Scalpel Vasectomy International Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to providing free family-planning services to underserved communities. Dr. Ramon served as president and Dr. Nenita as vice president.
Beyond conducting medical missions, NSVI acquired instruments, trained local physicians and helped expand no-scalpel vasectomy services in communities with limited family-planning care. Dr. Nenita was among the pioneering physicians who performed the procedure in the Philippines.
The couple also joined numerous medical and surgical missions to underserved Philippine communities through the Bisaya Medical Association.
Dr. Nenita’s life of service
Dr. Nenita’s accomplishments extended beyond the couple’s shared family-planning advocacy.
She served the Bisaya Medical Association as secretary, presidential adviser and board director, and was society editor of its SULAT newsletter. She also became president of the Southwestern University Alumni Association USA in 2008.
Her recognitions include Outstanding Southwestern University Alumna, an APPA Outstanding Alumni Award and the PEACE Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2014.
Dr. Nenita volunteered with Habitat for Humanity International’s Jimmy Carter Work Project in Parañaque, Philippines, in 1999 and Busan, South Korea, in 2000.
She also became president of the board of trustees of the Philippine American International Society, which assists calamity victims in developing countries. Her philanthropy included support for the outpatient lobby of Good Samaritan Hospital, artesian wells in Oroquieta, an operating room at Sacred Heart Hospital in Cebu City, and medical equipment and supplies for hospitals and medical institutions in Cebu.
Beyond medicine, she became a certified home stager and published Words of Comfort in Times of Trouble in 2001.
Taking advocacy to new heights
Dr. Ramon continued to promote family planning internationally.
In August 2013, he reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, where he raised a banner for No-Scalpel Vasectomy International and World Vasectomy Day to draw attention to reproductive health and population challenges in developing countries.
World Vasectomy Day presented Dr. Ramon with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, honoring him for founding No-Scalpel Vasectomy International and for his lifelong advocacy of vasectomy as a responsible family-planning option.
Through international missions, he performed and helped promote thousands of vasectomies in the Philippines, Haiti, Kenya and other communities, educating families and helping demystify the procedure.
Family, medicine and service
Alongside their professional and humanitarian work, Dr. Nenita and Dr. Ramon raised three sons.
Ramon Suarez Jr. earned a Master of Business Administration. Dr. Ronald Suarez became a forensic psychiatrist, while Robert Suarez pursued work in climate ventures, deep technology and biomimicry.
After decades of medical practice and community involvement in Pennsylvania, the couple retired to Naples, Florida.
Dr. Ramon brought his expertise as a surgeon, educator and internationally recognized advocate for accessible family planning. Dr. Nenita built a distinguished legacy as a physician, pulmonary specialist, educator, humanitarian, philanthropist and community leader.
Together, Dr. Nenita and Dr. Ramon Suarez showed how medicine can become more than a profession—a vehicle for education, humanitarian service and support for communities in the United States, the Philippines and around the world.
Morris Montilla is a New York-based singer, host, model and doctor of physical therapy. A multimedalist and semifinalist at the 2023 World Championships of Performing Arts, he previously performed with the University of Santo Tomas Singers and has shared the stage with visiting Filipino singers from the Philippines.
