Lydia Rocha

Lydia Rocha was born in San Joaquin, California on July 24, 1923 and took her place with the Lord on December 8, 2020. Lydia was the eldest child of Portuguese immigrants, Rosa and Martinho Barcellos. She married Joseph Rocha on February 20, 1941 and lived in Fresno County most of her adult life.

In the late 1950’s, she and her husband Joe owned the Farmeretts Café in Easton, California where she made all the items served to local farmers and Eastonites daily. It was a place for the local community to congregate and it led to her becoming a waitress, a job she truly loved. She had many friends and fond memories of her nearly 40 years as a waitress. After living in Easton for 44 years, she moved to Fresno in 2000.

Lydia loved to keep busy by creating a variety of hand-made items. She will be remembered through her quilts, as well as her many knit, crochet and needlepoint projects. Lydia found great joy in gifting her creations to friends and family alike. Chances are, if you stopped by to visit her, you went home with something she had made. She even gifted items to the mail carriers, repairmen and gardeners who happened to come to her home. Lydia also loved to travel. She often went on trips with her sister Eulalia and sister-in-law Mamie. She visited many places including the Azores, Europe, San Juan Islands, Canada, and various cruises to Mexico and the Caribbean. She took both her grandson and great-granddaughter to Terceira, the Azores island where her family originated, as it was important to her to share her heritage with them when they were young. She was so proud of her Portuguese heritage that she was a lifetime member of S.P.R.S.I. (club for Catholic Portuguese women) and U.P.P.E.C. (club for Portuguese peoples). Lydia also like sharing her life with others. She could keep anyone entertained for hours with stories from her travels, pictures of her family, her hand-made creations and many, many collections.

Lydia was a devout Catholic and regularly attended mass. She would often attend with her neighbors Tom and Aileen Neumeier. Due to COVID-19, she was not able to attend since March, which was difficult for her to understand. She asked regularly if she was going to be able to attend again soon.

Lydia is survived by; her daughter Regina Parker and her companion Tom, grandson Bill Grigsby and his wife Amy, step-granddaughter Kelly Vincent and her husband Jimmy, step-granddaughter Luanne DeVice and her husband Dana, great-granddaughter Morgan Newell and her husband Nathan, step-great grandchildren Hannah, Joseph, Katie, and Aly, and three great-great-grandchildren Mattelyn, Maysen and Maddox. She is also survived by her sisters Marie Guthrie and Marguerite Valentino, her brother Martin Barcellos Jr. and his wife Vivian, and numerous nieces and nephews. Lydia was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Joe, her sister Eulalia and her beloved son-in-law Louie Parker.

The family would like to thank the staff of Apricot Mornings for their care of Lydia the last few months.

A private service will be held Tuesday, December 15, 2020. The service will be live streamed for those unable to attend due to COVID-19. A link will be posted when available. Donations in remembrance may be made to Valley Children’s Hospital, at valleychildrens.org.