Manuela Rivera Martinez's Obituary
Manuela Rivera Martinez was born August 22, 1927 in Shafter Texas. She was the 5th child of eleven children of Julian and Apolonia Rivera. Married to Frank Martinez for 44 years before his death in 1994. She left this world to be with our Holy Father on February 16, 2010 at the age of 82. She is survived by her daughter, Lucy, son-in-law Victor, her step-son Ralph, her grandson Victor and his wife Mica, grandson Anthony, two great- grand daughters Janelle and Alyssa,and Miriam, Alyssa’s mother.Manuela was special and genuine to anyone who knew her. She had a way about herself. She wouldn’t have to say anything, just her presence was comforting and reasuring that everything was sound and going to be alright. She had such a giving heart. Uncle Jess, her younger brother, reflected that this was her calling, to serve others as God wants us to live a life of service and to love unconditiionally. She stressed the importance of family, to take pride in your occupation, be loyal and devoted to one another, and to lend a helping hand to neighbors. This is how she lived her life a possitive foundation for the entire family. She was always prepared to make you something to eat, made sure you went outside in the cold night air wearing a jacket, and always made sure there was ice cream and goodies for her grandsons and great grand daughters. She continued to be supportive and remained possitive even when her health was on the decline and she could no longer resume what she loved to do. Growing up during The Great Depression was difficult. However, the family endured with love and faith. Her father was a miner at one time. Until the mines closed. He also worked as a cook on a ranch. Manuela’s mother Apolonia was quite resourceful. Especially with the challenges of a growing family by making tortillas to be sold to neighbors. At a young age, Manuela was expected to peddle goods along with her older sister Lucia. When it was time for her to go to school she had many difficulities and became frustrated. She was a shy girl and not able to explain to her teacher why she couldn’t read or write. However her teachers were unkind to her and thought she was lazy. Her Mother was furious and chose to pull her out of school and keep her at home. She helped her mother with household chores and helped take care of her younger siblings. Through it all she handled her life experiences and challenges quite successfully.During this time her father, Julian, who was a miner, had black lung disease. He died when Manuela was about eleven years old. Times were difficult for the family in Shafter and they moved to Marfa. She was expected to do household chores like sweeping, cleaning, doing the dishes and literally any domestic work in and around the house. Including the task of bathing the younger children.As time went on, Manuela’s mother was suffering from a severe case of crippling arthritis. The family moved to Miami, Arizona where her oldest sister Manuela lived. From 1943 to 1948 while Manuela was in her mid to late teens she had the responsibilities of running the Rivera household and hold down a part time job at a local restaurant, waiting tables and washing dishes. The family pulled together to help with the care of their critically ill Mother. Manuela’s Mother died in 1948, at the the young age of 48.After her mother died she contiued to contribute to the family. While working in a restaurant she met her husband Frank Martinez. Soon they were married and went back and forth from Phoenix, Arizona to San Diego, California. Lucy was born in Miami in 1950. They settled in San Diego where they both had jobs and Lucy started school. Manuela worked in a restaurant in Old Town called Ramona’s Spanish Kitchen for 27 years. There she made life long friends. When the restuarant closed in 1969, she worked at The Padre Trail Inn in housekeeping. She retired at 62 to help her husband with his swap meet business. She became quite the sells woman. When her husband’s health began to fail from Parkinson’s Disease, she was his caretaker. Again giving her love, patience and comfort until the day he died in 1994.Manuela rarely thought of herself. Though at the age of 67 she wanted to take on the life long personal challenge of learning how to read and write. She joined Reads San Diego where she would meet a tutor twice a week. Ann, her tutor, gave Manuela the tools to accomplish her needs. Manuela excelled enough to write grocery lists, read primary books, and enjoyed word search books. She also was pleased to do her homework. She stressed, “You’re never to old to learn”.She loved to talk on the phone with her brothers, sister, and sisters-in laws. They would exchange old stories of times past. She wouldn’t talk about her declining health. It was important to her to have a conversation and not concentrate on her illness. Manuela will always be remembered as a giving, supportive and nurturing wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She loved to cook, help Lucy with househod chores, and took great pride being with her grandsons, and great-granddaughters. She succumbed to her courageous fight with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diabetes, and respiratory failure on the afternoon of February 16th. I would like to thank Uncle Jess, the Rivera Family Historian, for his help in writing this Biography of my Mother. He sent me a letter a few weeks after Mom passed. His words were comforting and inspiring and provided many of the time lines, words, and family situations. Much of the history was provided from Mom herself. She would share many stories of her family with me and with my family. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to complete this act of love. I kept hoping Mom would be sitting in her favorite spot on the couch when I came home from work. I wasn’t finished listening to her stories. I wanted to take care of her. As she took care of me and my family. Yes, we all miss her very much. I used to call her “My living Angel”. We are consoled to know she is with God in heaven. Watching over us and surrounded by her Mother, Father, my daddy, and all her siblings who she loved so dearly. I can see her now, telling Jesus that he has a spot on his robe, and can she wash it for him. Mom lived with us for twenty years and the joke around our house was you don’t leave clothes out or Mom would wash them. You learned to put your clothes away or they may get washed again. Even if they didn’t need to be washed. One of my precious memories was the Rivera Family Reunion at Shafter, Texas. Just to witness her interaction with her siblings at the ruins was priceless. I got to met these wonderful human beings I call family. It just reinforced all Mom’s stories of her youth. She shared many times of how the family always took care of one another and endured together their life challenges. I would like to thank everyone for their kind thoughtful words about Mom. Your thoughts and prayers will never be forgotten. I know she made a possitive impact on anyone who knew her. I look forward to the day she takes my hand and we will be together again in the Kindom of God.God Bless You All,LucyMy son Victor wrote this about his Grandma. HARD TO REMEMBERSITTING AT HOME,OR DRIVING SOMEWHERE,YOU POP UP IN MY THOUGHTS.WONDERING IF YOU WANT ME TO BRINGSOME LEMONS FROM THE TREE,OR A PLAIN CHEESEBURGER FROM MCDONALD’S.JUST THEN I HAVE TO REMIND MYSELF,BUT IT’S HARD TO REMEMBERGOING OVER TO THE HOUSEWALKING THROUGH THE BACK DOORWONDERING IF YOU WILL BE AT THE TABLEDOING YOUR HOMEWORK OR A CROSS WORD PUZZLEOR SITTING ON THE COUCH WATCHING THE PRICE IS RIGHTYET AGAIN I HAVE TO REMEMBER.BUT IT’S HARD TO REMEMBERIT’S STILL HARDTO SIT WHERE YOU USED TO SIT TO HEAR YOU ASK “ARE YOU HUNGRY?”I WISH WE HAD MORE TIME I MISS THE HUGS HELLO AND GOODBYETHANK YOU FOR BEING IN OUR LIVESAND CREATING MANY MEMORIES THOSE THINGS THAT WILL NEVER BEHARD TO REMEMBERMAY 21, 2010
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