Photo Courtesy of Stacelyn Labio
GONE TOO SOON—Brilliant, resilient and charismatic, Labio (third from right) had earned her doctorate just one month before her shocking death.
By Natalia Plaza
The first 14 years of adulthood for Llewelyn Labio did not go well.
There were bad choices. There was prison.
Her last eight were extraordinary.
There was achievement. There was generosity. There was joy.
And there was redemption – for herself and for others she guided from despair into the light of hope.
Then, suddenly – shockingly – she was gone.
Professor of Speech Communication Dr. Llewelyn Tan Labio died unexpectedly this summer following a routine heart surgery just one month after earning her Ph.D. She was 43.
Dr. Cynthia McGregor was Labio’s dean and her friend.
“Losing Llewelyn is devastating,” McGregor said. “She was a beacon of light (who) led with positive energy, eloquence, empathy and love.”
College president Dr. Mark Sanchez said he was heartbroken by the loss of Labio.
“She was rooted in the fabric of our institution serving in leadership roles and advocating for our restorative justice students in every space possible,” he said. “She openly celebrated the faculty on campus that shared her future and the college that changed her life.”
Born April 12, 1981, Labio was a bright and hard-charging kid, according to her sister Stacelyn Labio. Her potential was derailed when she made some “unwise” choices and ended up in prison. It was not to be the end, just a detour.
At the age of 35 Labio began the second act of her life by enrolling at Southwestern College. She was a single mother and a former prisoner, but neither deterred her. She earned an Associate’s Degree in communication and transferred to SDSU where she earned a Bachelor’s in communication with a minor in leadership studies.
It was the art and science of leadership that became her academic passion. In 2022 she was hired by Sanchez as a tenure track assistant professor of speech communication. She completed her Ph.D. in leadership studies at USD on May 19, one month before she died.
Labio became a star from day one, said McGregor.
“She was involved enormously in CHAI and Restorative Justice,” she said.
Newly-hired assistant professors are generally encouraged to focus on teaching their classes and getting their feet under themselves as classroom instructors before plunging into other campus activities, but Labio leapt into the fray immediately, McGregor said.
“She was particularly dedicated to teaching incarcerated students at (Richard R.) Donovan (Correctional Facility),” she said. “Llewelyn could relate to the incarcerated students and they related to her.”
Donovan prisoner Kisasi Aguilar said Labio shook him up and changed his life.
“She told me not to let my past decide my future,” he said. “(She told me) ‘You can do anything you want. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. She helped me to believe in myself.”
Labio’s encouragement and faith in him was transformative, Aguilar said.
“When she said that to me I did everything I could not to cry because I never had anyone tell me I could do something and believe in me,” he said. “(She) made me believe it.”
Donovan inmate Roger Liang said Labio’s empathy altered the course of his life.
“I believe it was the fact that Dr. Labio was incarcerate that influenced me to the depths she did,” he said. “(It gave) her the insight and instant credibility to command the entire room. From day one it was clear that she knew what and why she stood in front of me, and what she wanted each of us to know about her and learn about ourselves.”
Liang said Labio gave inmates the greatest possible gift.
“She handed each of us our humanity back,” he said. “Dr. Labio left me with proof that it can be done. It being redemption. She was the proof.”
Jason Cooper, a Restorative Justice student at Donovan, said Labio helped him to believe that positive change outside of incarceration is possible.
“Knowing that Dr. Labio was incarcerated helped me first to listen, then believe in what she taught,” he said. “Hearing the transformation she went through made me believe the same was possible for me. Feeling her passion for those of us who often felt forgotten made me believe in myself. Dr. Labio wasn’t just a teacher, she was a role model.”
Gloria Hinds, a former student of Labio at Southwestern College, said her friendliness and humanity transcended her talents as a teacher.
“As much as she was a teacher, I feel like she was more of a friend,” said Hinds. “I think that every teacher should be like (her). She’s so loving. She always walks up with a smile on her face, but she constantly reminds us that we’re all human and it’s okay not to be okay because we all have our hard days.”
Raquel Funches said she befriended Labio at SDSU’s Project Rebound, a program to assist formerly incarcerated students who wish to attend California State University campuses. Funches is now Director of Restorative Justice at Southwestern College.
“We just really hit it off,” said Funches. “Throughout the next 10 years we remained in contact. I have the good fortune to be Auntie Raquel to (Labio’s children) Nico and Rey.”
Funches said Labio made a strong first impression.
“Excuse my language,” she said, “but I was like ‘Wow, this is a powerful, bad ass bitch!’ She just came on so strong. I remember exactly what she was wearing: a gray pencil skirt with a black silk top. She exuded so much confidence. It was such a treat and a privilege to be in a space with her.”
Dave Renzella was Labio’s partner and recounted an on-again, off-again relationship that spanned 17 years, but intensified four years ago when, miraculously, they crossed paths during the pandemic in the small Mexican surf town of Sayulita. Renzella said they were inseparable ever since.
They spent much of the last four years traveling together and with family. They enjoyed exploring new cities by foot, Renzella said, often walking many miles each day.
“She would hold my hand and say ‘I will wander aimlessly around the world…anywhere with you,’” he recalled.
Renzella said he planned to get a tattoo of Labio’s fingerprints in the shape of a heart.
“She used to write these little notes to me all the time and I saved every single one of them,” he said.
Labio had a tattoo that said “Vagare,” the Italian word for “wander.”
“That’s what we always did,” said Renzella. “We wandered around the world with each other.”
Labio valued and loved her children more than anything else in her life, said Funches.
“I truly believe Nico, her firstborn, saved her life,” said Funches. “She got out of prison, immediately got pregnant and she was essentially forced to do better (for herself) and for her child. Everything she did, thing’s she did not do, friendships that were cut off and boundaries she placed were all in protection of her children.”
Stacelyn Labio, her younger sister, agreed.
“Just knowing her for so long and all the people that she has been…the common factor between all those times (is) family,” she said.
Stacelyn said her sister’s ashes reside at their parents’ home. Llewelyn made a few requests prior to her surgery that Stacelyn confessed she did not take seriously at the time because she expected a full and complete recovery.
“(Llewelyn said) she wanted to never be alone,” said Stacelyn. “She wanted to be in my dad’s garden. That’s what she said. Well, I laughed at her and (said) nothing’s going to happen, right? My dad is always in the garden and there are always butterflies there. Someone’s always home.”
Friends who wish to commune with Llewelyn should pay their respects at the beach, said Stacelyn.
“Llewelyn loved the beach. If you want to feel closer to her, go to the beach and just talk to her. That’s where she’ll be.”
Friends of Dr. Llewelyn Labio established a Go Fund Me Account to support her children Nico and Rey. Donations may be made to: www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-llewelyn-secure-future-for-her-children.
