Grace Veloz Jimenez

Grace Veloz Jimenez 96, passed peacefully into the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ early December 2, 2022, at her home, with her two sons by her side after having spent a day surrounded by her immediate family showered with love and appreciation.

Grace was born as Graciela Veloz Gurrola, to Teodulo and Carmen Veloz on April 16, 1926, in the Mt. Vernon community of San Bernardino California. Grace’s parents had immigrated here from Durango Mexico. Grace was the youngest of five sisters, their married names being Consuelo Ruiz, Carmen Ramirez, Esther Duran and Romelia Garcia. Teodulo was employed by the Santa Fe Railroad Company; he built the family home on Cabrera Avenue, where she was born. There she would recall some of her childhood activities such as making dolls out of matches and Sunday afternoons with big sister Romie watching all the cars passing on Mount Vernon Blvd, which back then in the early nineteen thirties was the legendary Route 66, which handled traffic from Chicago to Los Angeles. The choice game was who could count more out of state license plates, and where from.

Unfortunately Grace’s parents would separate and in 1937 Grace would relocate to Cucamonga, where she completed Cucamonga Elementary and would attend one year at Chaffey High School Ontario. Grace’s big sister, Romie, had a boyfriend, and the only way she could get permission to go to the dance with the boyfriend was to take little sister Grace with her as a chaperone. Grace thought this was the greatest, as she was a beautiful 14 year-old that could pass for an 18 year-old, and she had young men asking her to dance all evening. This was the big band era, when swing bands such as Artie Shaw Orchestral, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey would frequent the San Bernardino dance scene.

In 1940, Grace’s mother bought a bar business in Barstow, California, and Grace soon found her first job at a drug store & soda fountain while attending Barstow High School. In early December of 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Grace was fifteen years old and recalled that most of the boys in her class jumped up and ran out to enlist in the armed forces to fight and defend our country. Grace said many did go and many never returned from the war.

In 1943, before finishing her senior year of high school, Grace and her mother went to Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico, to meet and vacation with her mother’s family that resided there. Grace soon found a close friendship with her cousin Carmen, who was five years older than her. Her cousin Carmen was quite the socialite and would introduce her beautiful young American cousin Grace from California to her acquaintances and the who’s who of Torreón. Grace found a job there at the American Consulate in Mexico, which began a new chapter of her life. Grace loved her years in Mexico and would often recall the friends she had made, the handsome fellows she dated, the music, and dancing she had enjoyed.

After a couple of years in Mexico, Grace returned to San Bernardino, California, and was hired by Bell Telephone Company in 1945, where she became a switchboard operator for fifteen years. Grace loved her job at the telephone company. She made many life-long friends there and had plenty of exciting experiences connecting people and companies to others around the world. It would be here where Grace started her stock portfolio, acquiring stock from Bell Telephone Company, proceeds of which she had up to this day. It is worth noting that Grace was very thrifty, not spending more than she had to, but willing to spend when she saw the necessity. This is a trait she learned from her mother and growing up as a child during the Great Depression.

In the late 1940’s, Grace entered a pageant to become the Queen of San Bernardino‘s Gran Festival in recognition of Mexican Independence Day on September 16th. She was sponsored by a funeral home company, and Grace won the crown and the honors. She purchased a new 1950 Ford Club Coupe at that time and put some miles on this car, driving to and from work daily and seeing to short getaways with family or friends. During these years she would enjoy attending dances with friends Rudy and his wife Nelly Gomez, and Ophelia and Mary. As a group they would hit all the good dance spots in those days. Rudy and Nelly were so graceful on the dance floor, and Rudy would take time to teach Grace and their friends the latest dance steps in the rumba, mambo, cha-cha, foxtrot, and swing. These were some very exciting and memorable years for Grace.

In the early 1950’s, Grace would not be in lack of male suitors. She had several fellows vying for her love and affection, but none were able to steal her heart like Joe Jimenez. Joe had a knack for bringing laughter to Grace’s heart. The earliest account of them meeting, according to Grace, is in 1952 while Grace was selling dance tickets as a part-time job at the Valley Ballroom on Colton Avenue in San Bernardino. Joe would approach her ticket window just to talk to her and make her laugh. She would later say she doesn’t remember him ever buying a ticket, but he always found a way inside the dance.

Some time later in the fall of 1953, Joe invited Grace for their first dinner date. As told by Grace’s niece Carmen Atencio, who lived with her at that time: “Grace was so accustomed to get all dolled up with makeup and hair just right, a strapless dress, high heels and a mink coat, it was the works for a dinner date. To her surprise, Joe showed up at our home dressed in a nice plaid shirt, Levi’s trousers and tennis shoes. Grace looking at how Joe was dressed said, ‘I thought we were going to dinner?’ Joe said, ‘yes, we are.’ So Grace said give me a minute to go and change my clothes and she did so, and they soon left. This would mark the first occasion for Grace’s mother to meet Joe, and Grace’s mother was not very impressed. Joe was good looking, but not too tall… whereas, Grace’s previous boyfriend was 6’2” and good looking. Mother said to young Carmen, ‘Now why did she go and change down? Why, she should not have changed her clothes, but she should have told him to go and dress appropriately.’” Needless to say, Grace’s mother would see the good part of Joe and soften up.

Joe quickly fell in love with Grace and asked her to marry him. And in April of 1954, they were married. At that time, Joe was a journeyman carpenter in the Carpenter’s Union and was accustomed to milking cows at night or early morning for extra money. Grace believed that construction work was seasonal and chose to keep her full-time occupation at Bell Telephone, which she did until 1960. Joe, however, was a very ambitious and hard-working individual; he was always willing to take a slight risk if he saw the possibility of making a profit— something Grace admired deep down about her husband. On November 15, 1954, their first son Wayne Joseph (Joey) was born. At that time Joe had purchased a lot on Eleventh Street in Pomona and had a pre-existing home moved to the lot location and made their very first home together. On October 12, 1956, their second son Robert Eric Jimenez was born.

In 1960, Grace retired from the telephone company and became a homemaker for the next five years approximately. At this time, she and Joe purchased a home at 894 San Bernardino Avenue, Pomona, where they would reside for sixteen years. During this time, Grace obtained her GED. She later became a licensed realtor for Cokley Real Estate in Pomona. She and Joe sent the boys to private school. Her mother Carmen, who she was very close to and truly admired, passed away in 1973.

Shortly thereafter, Grace and Joe had the opportunity to buy G.A. Loney Concrete, and Grace became a business owner and bookkeeper, responsible for all office and management needs. Grace had a brilliant mind, especially when it came to numbers, and was able to oversee multiple business activities, as well as her own real estate investments and rentals. She bought many real estate properties over the years, participated in money lending later in life, and administered the office management of her sons’ businesses with the help of her assistant Maria. Grace was always supportive of her boys’ endeavours. Many will remember the large house in Norco that Grace and Joe purchased in 1976. There they hosted many large family gatherings over the years, and Joe always managed to keep cows and horses handy and the pool ready for entertainment. Grace enjoyed international travel, boating, riding behind Joe on his Harleys, going for road trips, listening to Vicente Fernandez, and hosting family and friends. She lost the love of her life for sixty years when Joe passed in 2014. After Joe’s passing, Grace would often visit her sister Romie and her niece Mona, which led her to picking up a new hobby in her nineties – becoming a loyal and enthusiastic Dodger fan. She remained close to Joe’s family as well, who accepted her as a sister long ago, and she adopted the daughter she never had – Mari Tardiff, who she was immediately and greatly fond of.

Grace is survived by her two sons, Joey and Robert, their wives, respectively Yolanda and Rachel, her grandchildren – Brooke, Vanessa, Adrian, Briana, and Bianca, their spouses, her great-grandchildren – Landon, Bennett, Aurelia, Audrey, and baby Porter soon to come. They will remember her as a wise, supportive and loving matriarch with an excellent memory, determined spirit, and keen mind, and as a woman who left a legacy that they would appreciate and aspire to resemble in many ways.