She took business administration degree at the University of Santo Tomas where she graduated magna cum laude.

[1] In 1934, she joined the Manila Carnival (equivalent to today's Binibining Pilipinas) under the sponsorship of Dee Tees, the country's leading publication during that era.

During that time, Pacita enlisted as a volunteer nurse for the Red Cross and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

[1] After the war, Pacita married Herman Warns, an executive of the Manila Gas Corporation.

Upon his assumption of office, Magsaysay appointed Madrigal-Warns as the chief of the Social Welfare Administration (SWA) in 1953.

[2] Pacita-Gonzales was charged with malversation, misappropriation and misuse of public funds of the Social Welfare Administration during the years of 1954–1955, which was later dismissed by the Supreme Court in 1963.

[5] At the death of Warns, Pacita married lawyer Gonzalo Wilfrado Rafols Gonzalez, son of Bienvenido Ma.