Margaret Mendoza

Margaret liked to be called Margie and was born in New York City to Margo and Ezekiel Lorenzo. Her mother passed away when Margie was two years old and she was then raised by her mother’s extended family. Margie was an only child but soon became the youngest in a large loving family.

After graduating from High School, World War II broke out and Margie found herself working in a defense plant applying the radium glow in the dark numbers to airplane instrument panels for the war effort. During this period she met Joseph A. Mendoza Jr, a friend of the family who was visiting from Puerto Rico. A shipping clerk in Manhattan, Joe found himself smitten with Margie, and from their first date, told his friends, she would someday be his bride. Margie had other plans but because of Joe’s persistent charm…they were married on June 4th, 1944.

On October 21, 1946, the couple gave birth to Joseph A. Mendoza III, who would be their only child.

Margie began working for Citibank in 1960 in their stock market department. She eventually became a supervisor in the newly developed computer division at Citibank and was a pioneer on the Wang computer system of the time.

Retired from Citibank, she moved from her beloved N.Y. to Burlington, North Carolina, when Joe’s company Burlington Industries promoted him to traffic manager of their export division and wanted them at their headquarters in North Carolina. They lived their until Joe’s accidental death on August 2, 1986.

Margie then moved to California briefly, eventually settling in Sarasota Florida where most of her family lived. After some time she moved to Vista California to live near a friend who had been her maid of honor on her wedding day. Finally, Margie moved to California once again to be near her son, grandsons Joseph IV and Jason, great grandsons Joseph V and Joshua, Daughter in law, Jeanette Mendoza and Joseph IV wife, Joanna Mendoza.

She passed away peacefully in her sleep on the morning of April 21, 2011 at 8:35 am.

A wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and Aunt to many nieces

and nephews. She will be dearly missed, but is now reunited with her huge family in Paradise.

Arrangements under the direction of Mount Vernon Memorial Park & Mortuary, Fair Oaks, CA.