Carmen Fallon

María del “Carmen” Fallon died May 30, 2022, at age 90, surrounded by family in Portland, Ore. The daughter of José Antonio Maldonado and Rosa María Orozco, Carmen was born April 4, 1932 in Quito, Ecuador. Surrounded by the Andean mountains, she lived the first 25 years of her life in the company of her parents, two brothers, two sisters and a large group of family and friends.

She met Oswaldo Mario Fiallo at work and they were married on May 3, 1952. Five years later, the couple emigrated to the Flatbush neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y. with their children, María and Anthony. Their third child, Rosa María joined the family in 1959.

In 1965, Carmen started a 32-year career in the Securities Industry Division of the Bank of New York in the financial district. Pursuing the American dream, in August 1979 she became a U.S. citizen and earned an associate’s degree from Kingsborough College a decade later.

In 1981, she was briefly remarried to Joseph Fallon.

After retiring in 1997, Carmen spent time traveling with her children and grandchildren to Alaska, Spain, the Galapagos, Bermuda, Disney World, Oregon, Washington, just to name a few spots. She kept busy with daily walks to Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan Beach, yoga, swimming, phone calls to her siblings, cooking lasagna and llapingachos (a type of Ecuadorian pancake) and going to the theatre. Back in the day, Carmen enjoyed listening to Julio Jaramillo and Lawrence Welk. She had a great sense of humor and enjoyed watching The Golden Girls and Seinfeld. She was also a news junkie and watched Judge Judy.

Due to the pandemic, she relocated and spent the last two years of her life quietly in Portland, Ore. living with her daughter Rosie and son-in-law Larry. Her days were filled with daily walks admiring flowers in the neighborhood, looking for ducks at Commonwealth Lake Park, or mall walking during inclement weather. Carmen loved family dinners, time spent with her grandchildren and their partners, sleepovers with her great-grandchildren, the company of her dog “Luna,” playing “cuarenta” (an Ecuadorian card game), sipping an occasional glass of wine or beer and her daily dessert.

Fiercely independent, Carmen faced the difficulty of leaving her native country and family to start a new life in a foreign country with fortitude and a deep belief in God’s will. A devout Catholic, she found solace in the church and attended mass daily much of her life. During the pandemic she attended services daily online. Fortitude and strong religious convictions also helped her weather additional life challenges, from moving in with family in Oregon during the pandemic, to living with macular degeneration and the beginning stages of dementia.

Carmen is survived by her daughter, María Escalante (and Mark Gura), son Anthony “Tony” Fiallo and daughter Rosa María “Rosie” Fiallo (and Larry Shoop); sisters Terri Aretakis and Gloria Velarde; and brothers Jaime and Galo (and Carmen) Maldonado; grandchildren Anthony P. Fiallo, Maxx Shoop, and Carmen Rose Fiallo; great-granddaughter Toni Lynn Titone; ten nieces and nephews and their children; ex-daughter-in-law Patricia Webster-Fiallo; her extended family, granddaughter Evelyn Shoop Mathew (and Dinesh) and their children, Kanan, Liam and Sapna; granddaughter Hillary Shoop Murray (and Bill) and their daughter, Margot; and friends in N.Y., Oregon, Florida and Ecuador.

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