Elizabeth "Isabel" Aguirre

Isabel Maria Aguirre was born in Monteria,

Colombia, on November 10, 1936, to Margarita

Sofán and Rigoberto Alvear. Her nicknames

throughout her life were Chavita as a young girl and

Cháve as an adult, though later in life she was

mostly known as Grandma Isabel. She and her

brother Mariano (1939-2015) lost their mother when

they were in their mid-teens, after which her

father sent her to a Catholic boarding school in

Medellín, Colombia, where she completed her high

school studies.

Isabel met José Maria Aguirre Cortés (“Chepe”) in

Barranquilla, Colombia, and began a life together

that lasted 58 years until his death in 2017. After a

short time in Barranquilla, the couple moved to San

Diego, California around 1960, where they lived for

11 years. During their time in California, they had

two children: Myriam Elizabeth, born in 1962, and

Alvaro José, born in 1966.

In 1971, the young family decided to move to

Caracas, Venezuela, where Chepe’s brother had

emigrated from Colombia a few years earlier. They

lived happily in Caracas for seven years and had

their last child there, José Alfredo, in 1972. By

1978, Cháve decided that she wanted her children

to have a future in the US and convinced Chepe to

return to the US for good, this time to Miami.

Cháve and Chepe lived happily in Miami until 2002

when they agreed to move to San Francisco,

California to help Alvaro and their daughter-in-law

DeAnne with their growing family. Since then, until

their death, they were an integral part of the lives

of their children and four granddaughters.

A devout Catholic who lived her faith, Cháve was an

extraordinary, forward-thinking woman. Cháve

encouraged Chepe to study computer systems in the

1960s, drove the family’s return to the US to secure

better opportunities for her children, had a

successful dental equipment exporting business, and

served as the beloved matriarch of her extended

family. She is survived by her daughters Myriam,

DeAnne (Alvaro’s wife), and Soraya (José’s wife);

sons, Alvaro and José; and grandchildren, Isabel,

Alessandra, Karinne, and Raquel Aguirre

A visitation for Isabel will be held Friday, February 11, 2022 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Pacific Beach – La Jolla Chapel, 4710 Cass Street, San Diego, CA 92109. A funeral mass will occur Saturday, February 12, 2022 at 11:00 AM at Mary Star of the Sea, 7713 Girard Ave, La Jolla, CA 92037. A burial will occur Saturday, February 12, 2022 at 1:00 PM at Holy Cross Cemetery, 4470 Hilltop Dr,, San Diego, CA 92102.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.pacificbeachchapel.com for the Aguirre family.