Born in Ysleta, Texas on June 30, 1930, to the proud parents of Sabas and Gregoria Payan and the first of five children and the other siblings to follow Alice, Santos, Raul, and Henry, our mother’s family started off as migrant workers making their way to California and living in various towns in the San Joaquin Valley with the hope of a better life.
The family settled down in Northern California in the town of Madrone. With all members of the family working together, they purchased their first home and started laying down their family roots. One evening our mother attended a dance in San Jose, California where she meets our father Abel B. Romero. They eventually married November 15 of 1953. Not long after that her first child was born, a daughter, named Gloria. The family grew with the adoption of their son Abel and adopted daughter Laurie. Soon after, they welcomed their youngest son, David.
Our mother was a hard worker. She started off as a field worker but moved on to working in a pharmacy and then a teacher assistant. She finally retired from Orchard Supply Hardware Corporate Office where she worked in office administration.
But her true passion was with the arts. She fell in love with painting, especially with still life and portrait painting. She had the spirit of a true artist lingering within her. She also enjoyed attending performing arts events and traveling to places like Spain, Morocco, and Mexico. Meeting new people and finding new friends was something she particularly excelled at. She loved playing canasta with a group of friends and enjoying the company more than the game itself.
Our mother’s heart was filled with love to give to her beloved husband, children and grandchildren which never went unnoticed! Love for her parents by caring for them in their old age, her siblings by constantly looking out for them and being there in times of need, love for her aunts and uncles (a few of them found her to be their favorite niece, which she enjoyed reminding us), and the love of her dogs, Lulu and Cookie to name a few.
Our mother’s hopes and dreams were never focused on her but on others. She always wanted to know how everyone was doing in the family and sure they were safe. Family members and friends would tell us how they saw her as a sister and someone they could talk too when they had something troubling them. Family and friends who were going through difficult times in life always knew that our mother would be there for them. Once when a neighbor of hers, a husband and wife, came down with the flu, our mother made chicken soup for them and offered to run to the store and pick up their medication. Another friend suddenly lost a family member, and our mother went over to her home to console her in her time of grief and would invite her to our home so she wouldn’t be alone. She once soothed a crying and rambunctious little girl, who was giving her mother a hard time, on a flight home by using a soft voice and words of kindness. When her son had his tonsils removed, our mother took the time to sit and console the other children who had their tonsils remove, for she was the only mother present among the children. In that moment she played the part of what came natural to her, to be a mother.
Our mother’s life theme was to show kindness and love whenever people near to her had to face troubling times. Our mother past away on June 4, 2024. Our beloved mother will be immeasurably missed. May her soul rest in everlasting peace!
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