Aurora Mendoza Benavidez

Aurora, known as Aunt Brada to many, was born to Antonio and Francisca Mendoza in Dallas, Texas in 1937. Aurora grew up in Farmers Branch, where she attended school and picked cotton. Her love for fresh tomatoes stemmed from her travels to Indiana with her family.

Like many migrant workers, Aurora’s education was cut short to prioritize providing for her family. As a teenager, Aurora joined her sister Dolores and Aunt Mary working at Lone Star Ceramics in Farmers Branch.

As a young adult, Aurora loved to go dancing, cruising, and enjoying time with her family. It was an instance of love a first sight one Sunday afternoon while cruising Reverchon Park that she met her future husband. She married Lorenzo Benavidez and gave birth to two children - Andrew and Yolanda.

Nurturing and caring by nature, Aurora dedicated her life to providing for her family. From caring for her mother and siblings, stitching homemade Halloween costumes for her grandchildren, to housekeeping for clients who became family, to baking pecan pies and pumpkin bread to give out at Christmas time, Aurora was a mother to all.

A devout Catholic woman, Aurora trusted in the Lord and in the Holy Virgin’s intercession and partook in the Crucillo movement. Aurora faced many hardships, from being a young widow to her health challenges in her later years, her faith always persevered.

A typical day for Aurora was filled watching cheesy movies in the afternoons, eating endless Wendy’s frosties, drinking orange soda, halving Sonic cheeseburgers with her sister, and spending time with her family. Her sister Lupe, her children, her grandchildren, and her chihuahua Daio were her world.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband and three siblings Jessie Joe Mendoza, Salvador Mendoza, and Dolores Jaramillo. She leaves behind her siblings Maria Guadalupe “Lupe” Alva, John & Sonnie Mendoza, and Carmen Mendoza, her children Andrew Benavidez and Yolanda & Ricardo Delacruz, her grandchildren Loren and Elijah, nieces, nephews, cousins & friends. As she aged, Brada’s love for her family and contagious humor never faded.

Andrew and Yolanda would also like to thank their Aunt Lupe for her unyielding love and care, and for always being their mama’s partner in crime.

A visitation for Brada will be held Wednesday, October 16, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM with a Rosary at 7:00 PM at Rhoton Funeral Home, 1511 South Interstate 35e, Carrollton, TX 75006.

A funeral service will occur Thursday, October 17, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, Rhoton Funeral Home 1511 South Interstate 35e, Carrollton, TX 75006.

A committal service will occur Thursday, October 17, 2024 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home & Hillcrest Mausoleum & Memorial Park, 7405 W Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75225.

A reception will occur Thursday, October 17, 2024 from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM, 1511 South Interstate 35e, Carrollton, TX 75006.