Bringing Back the Family

The day was mostly overcast and dreary with elevated humidity. There was a slight threat of rain during the morning and early afternoon.  A mostly perfect day to visit cemeteries.

My brother Tony and I took the two hour drive from San Diego to the City of Angels last week. We planned to travel to three cemeteries and visit our family at their places of rest. I also photographed their grave markers for my family genealogy as well as setting up memorial pages at Find A Grave.

We made our way to Calvary Catholic Cemetery in East Los Angeles. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles and is notable for Stations of the Cross along the roadways.

Buried there are our grandparents, Juan Dominguez and Maria Marquez Dominguez as well as their oldest daughter Guadalupe and her husband Hector Ortega.

Juan and Maria were one of the three Dominguez families that immigrated from Zacatecas, Mexico to the United States during the second decade of the Twentieth Century. They are buried next to each other despite being separated for decades. Maria refused to settle for a divorce as this was frowned upon by the Catholic Church. Juan did not press for divorce despite family suggestions that he was with other women.

Hector and Guadalupe Dominguez Ortega are a few markers away.  I remember them as good and hardworking people with a positive outlook on like.  I had just discovered that their oldest son, Hector Junior, had passed away recently. I will be looking for his death information in order to bring him back into the family.

We next motored to Resurrection Catholic Cemetery were our father, Demetrio Estrada Delgadillo, was interred. He had bought our home in Montebello and the Delgadillo children were born and raised in that community. Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Montebello. He is buried there with no other family and this has always made me a bit sad. I told my brother that I would like to be buried at Resurrection Cemetery so our father would not be alone.

Our last stop was at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier. This is a very large cemetery and we have several family member buried there. Our Amelia and her second husband, Alfonso Hurtado are in a section were there was recent land movement. I had visions of their area being covered by tons of earth. Luckily there was no damage.

Our Aunt Lillian and her husband Joaquin Masropian share a grave marker near a small tree. Not far from them is our Aunt Mary Louis while her husband, Gilbert Soto, is buried in a different section of the park.

I will need to bring my Uncle Manuel back into the family. He died in Arizona and they have strict time frames for the release of information. Just something else to add to the task list.