Jonna Hynes Barragan

     Jonna was adopted as an infant by Margaret T. and John I. Hynes and grew up in Long Beach, CA.  In spite of being an only child, she had a happy childhood, being nurtured closely by her parents and maternal grandmother.  Shortly after graduating from St. Anthony’s High School in Long Beach, she began working at Disneyland, where she met some of her closest lifelong friends.  Always an extrovert, people were naturally drawn to her which proved helpful when she was awarded the California State Championship in Persuasive Speaking while enrolled at Fullerton College.

     After getting married in 1972 to Edward Rafael Barragan, she graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a B.A in Early Childhood Education.  A few years later she became the Director of the Nursery School for Married Student Housing while her husband was enrolled at USC Dental School.  She was instrumental in helping him establish his dental practice in 1983.  In 1984 she began an eighteen-year-long career as an Instructor at Berkeley Private School (K-6) in Fullerton.  During that time, her husband referred to her as a part-time office worker, part-time instructor and full-time loving mother to Raphael (born 1975), Gabriel (1978), Allegra (1982), and Madelena and Maximillian (1989).

     Always proud of her adopted Irish heritage, when she connected with birth relatives as an adult, she was elated to find that she was truly of Irish descent.  A world traveler, she visited Ireland, Italy, Spain, France, England, Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Australia and Israel.

     With her engaging personality, she made new friends almost everywhere she went.  New acquaintances would later admit to completely opening up to Jonna only having just met her.

     While battling back many times from health complications due to an auto accident in 1994, she never lost her zeal for life, maintaining her many friendships while continuing to make new ones.

     In 2013, she joined the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) on the campus of Calif. State Univ., Fullerton.  Her favorites classes/activities were Creative Writing, OLLI’s Follies and A Course in Miracles.

     She is survived by her husband, Dr. Edward Barragan, D.D.S., her children and their spouses, Raphael and Rebecca Barragan, Gabriel Barragan, Allegra and Steven Rineer, Madelena Barragan and Maximillian Barragan and three grandchildren, Zoe (11 yrs.), Amelie (9 yrs.), Sebastian (5 years).  It is the deep love she had for her family for which she would want to be remembered.

     Memorial services will take place at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church, 19767 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda, CA, 92886 on Saturday, January 11, 2020.  Rosary at 9:30 AM, Mass at 10 AM.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to ACLU in her memory.