Hercules A. del Mundo, May 10, 1954 – February 22, 2022

Beloved husband, father and grandfather, Herky del Mundo (67), long-time resident of Ashburn, Virginia, peacefully passed away on February 22, 2022 with his family by his side.

Chess was one of Herky's biggest passions. Herky founded and led the Ashburn Chess Club, sharing his love of chess with the local community. He created a chess training program inviting world class chess coaches - Grandmaster Mark Paragua, Grandmaster Tejas Bakre, International Master Nikolai Andrianov, International Master Ricardo de Guzman and International Master Ronald Bancod.

Herky inspired his three sons to play chess. Together they traveled to Asian, US and European cities, with his three sons competing in chess tournaments. Paolo, his eldest son, achieved master status in 1999 with Herky's guidance and support.

Herky spent a career in cinematography, filmmaking and journalism. He filmed the award-winning film "Pepot Superstar", which won the Best Film award at the Cinema Malaya Independent Film Festival in Manila, and Best Actor award at the Singapore International Film Festival. He was the producer-cinematograher of " Dreaming Filipinos ", an independent film on the subject of post-colonial identity. This film was a winner of the Gran Prix Best Picture at the ASEAN Young Cinema Festival and was shown in Vancouver, Rotterdam and Singapore.

His latest project to be published in Amazon, " Stories to Tell" is a compilation of the emails to the clan written by his 98 year old mother-in-law, Angelica Cabanero, showcasing the strength and character of this Filipino family through the decades.

Herky is survived by his wife Teresa, his sons Paolo, Jose, Carlo, his daughters-in-law Trang, Krystal and Alena, and his grandchildren Magnus, Jaxson, and Ryder.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, February 26, 2022, at St John the Apostle Catholic Church at 101 Oakcrest Manor Dr NE, Leesburg, VA 20176 .  Viewing starts at 11:30 AM followed by the funeral mass at 12:30 PM . Interment will be at the St. John the Apostle cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, we would like to channel your donations to the Virginia Chess Federation (donation link). We will honor Herky's lifelong dream to develop Virginia's chess community.