Columbus-Area Physicians Honored at Annual Odysseus Awards
Husband and wife team recognized for community giving; part of Financial Planning Group that designates $60 million to area charitable causes

COLUMBUS, OH, May 26, 2010: Worthington residents and area physicians June and Linda Pantangco were recently recognized at the Odysseus Awards, held at The Columbus Foundation.

“June and Linda immigrated from the Philippines to the United States in the late-1960s for their medical residencies and became naturalized citizens in 1980,” said Larry Waller, CLU CFP®, ChFC, Founder and CEO of Waller Financial Planning Group. “However, their commitment to giving started long before.”

The Pantangco’s were inspired by their families. June’s father was a physician and his mother a nurse who worked with the U.S. military during WWII to transport wounded Australian and American soldiers from around the Pacific theater. Linda’s uncle was head of the West Coast Chapter of Filipino Medical Missions in California and instrumental in establishing a School of Nursing at Adventist University in the Philippines

Today, the pair embraces giving back to its current and former communities in many ways. They are active in The Association of Philippine Physicians of Ohio. As leaders in this organization, June and Linda have had an impact on medical care both in the United States and in the Philippines. Further, June was is one of the founders of the East Coast Chapter of Medical Missions to the Philippines, encouraging others to invest in providing free medical care to thousands of their countrymen. More than 5,000 patients are seen on every one-week trip.

At home, June often meets one-on-one with those in poverty to understand needs and find solutions. More formally, he and his wife distribute food to the homeless in Columbus through a church ministry. Understanding that learning must not stop, June earned an MBA with honors from Ashland University and as his practice grew, the was able to apply his management skills to managing the EASNAC Philippines Foundation, which provides scholarships and medical assistance to the people in rural communities of the Philippines. As a retiree, he took the AARP tax course and assists in the free Tax Preparation Clinic in Columbus every year.

The Pantangco’s active giving is only enhanced by their legacy planning through The Waller Financial Planning Group. Together with the other client’s in the group, more than $60 million has been designated to charitable causes across Central Ohio.