On October 22ndt, Hortense “Tangy” Pinedo, of Pinedale, California, passed away peacefully, in the loving presence of her daughters. Born May, 1935, in Highway City to Alice and Rudolph Sorondo, Tangy lived the entirety of her 85 years in the Fresno area. She is survived by her husband, Simon “Rico” Pinedo, the love of her life. Married 65 years, Tangy and Rico built a life that was the center of the extended family for decades. Sunday dinners and holidays (and Christmas, in particular) was a near sacred place in the Pinedo home, where family and friends always had a seat at the table. Their home was a joyful and special place to her children, Debra Erven and husband Chuck Erven, Patricia Wilson and her husband Chris, and Lisa Renwick. She will be missed by her grandchildren, Danielle Seaberg and her husband Robin, Alana Hill and her husband Kevin, Christian Shapazian and his wife, Aunica, Emma Wilson, Joseph Wilson, Tyler Renwick and Kerry Renwick, and by her Great-Grandchildren, Shabaz Hill, Oslo Hill, Christian Shapazian, Jr., and Emma Shapazian; by her brother, Rudolph Sorondo Jr. and sister, Rachel Shulz and by countless nieces and nephews. She will be missed, as well, by the many she embraced as family, Nick and Betsy Erven, Jessica Erven, Kaia Seaberg, Dean Seaberg and Hidekazu and Erica Arai.
Beside her love and devotion to family, Tangy was an enthusiastic Fresno State Bulldog supporter (even in the losing years!). She had an enthusiasm for many things in life. In her youth, she and Rico, would dance into the night at the Rainbow Ballroom, moving effortlessly to the rhythm of Latin Ballroom. Her love of dance and the arts was passed down to each of her three daughters. Her sense of adventure never left her, whether it was traveling to New Zealand to visit her daughter or checking out a new restaurant or cuisine. Her life was a great example of the American Dream. As a young girl she worked in the fields, picking whatever was in season and then at Martin’s Variety Store in Pinedale, where she met her husband, Rico. As she tells it, Rico would come to the store and leave with some item or another that he neither wanted nor needed. He was there to talk with her. “He liked what he saw”, Tangy would say. And soon, he asked her to marry him. He took her down the street, to a small house under construction. She had noticed the house on her daily walk from work. She noticed the care in the construction, but until that moment, didn’t realize the house was being built for her.
They married six months. later
The house grew with the family. She and Rico became business owners and opened two successful hair salons, “Rico’s Hair Fashion”, a local institution. They prospered and sent their daughters to university. They set an example of how to form a loving, successful family.
Tangy worked until she was 84 and then quietly put away her clippers. By then, her patrons were lifelong friends and her colleagues, extended family. A devout Catholic, who attended services at St. Anthony’s and Holy Spirit Churches, Tangy now sits at another table but she will be missed at the table in the house that Rico built.
A celebration of Tangy’s life will be held when it can be done so in the warm, festive manner she’d want it to be. Mom loved a party!
You can honor Tangy’s memory with a donation to Hinds Hospice, https://www.hindshospice.org/make-a-donation.html
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