Janina M. Berrocal-Lopez

Janina was born April 9,1929 in Cordoba, Colombia to Feliciana Lopez Ramos and Manuel Berrocal Pontier. She was the eldest of eight children: Juan, Christina, Juanita, Enrique, Antonia, Eusebia, and Pedro.

Janina attended secretarial school for two years after high school and before she began working. At this time, she moved to Cartagena to work for the Volkswagen company. Slowly, she started bringing her siblings over as well. When she was about 35 years old, she decided to make a big life change and went to the United States. Here, she met and married Marciano Adalberto Pardo. Together they had their only daughter, Yvette-Janine in 1966.

Janina worked as a seamstress. She was a seamstress queen. Her talent was such that she could make any creation without a pattern. She worked for the garment industry which offered very cheap compensation for her labor. Most of her money was made making personal orders. Janina created debutante, quinceanera, and tailored dresses for women and girls. She was particularly sought out for making high school prom dresses. When things were tight, and she needed to make the mortgage payment, she would buy a canvas and paint an oil landscape, always with mountains and water. She would go to Clairmont Old School House and sell her paintings. She would return home, pay her mortgage, and continue to sew for a living. She was the only seamstress that used art to make ends meet.

After some time, Janina realized she had to dedicate herself to God. In 1976, she ended her civil marriage in order to receive holy communion. Her faith and Yvette-Janine were the focus of her life. As a mother, she was devoted and wonderful. In 1988, she sold her house and began to travel to pilgrimage destinations such as Mexico, Fatima, and Jerusalem. She became very involved with the Catholic church. She attended mass every morning...with Yvette-Janine in tow. She prayed the rosary every day, the glorious, joyful, and sorrowful mysteries.

While she was a very spiritual woman, Janina had her worldly appreciations. She loved to read – religious literature. She fashioned herself with various styles of high-end heels, and since she was a lady who always crossed her legs, they were always the envy of all shoe lovers.

She enjoyed cooking, but didn’t like anyone in the kitchen with her. She loved drinking Pepsi with lemon and eating pan de bono or pan con queso. Whenever she hear latin music, especially cumbias, she was up and ready to dance. And one thing most people who knew her would say is that Janina loved to laugh. Gus Martin, her brother-in-law, made her laugh the most.

In October 1996, Janina and Yvette-Janine planned to take the new Blue line to Long Beach. While on the bus ride to Union Station, she told Yvette-Janine her entire life story; just let it all out. Once they arrived to Long Beach, Janina complained of not feeling well and wanted to go home. That night, she had stroke at home. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. That was the beginning of a new life. With Alzheimer’s, she made irrational decisions. She gave away all her money to family and charities. In 1998 and 2000, she became a grandmother two Cristian and Andres Giraldo, respectively. Although, her disease was progressing she was able to play and dance with her grandchildren. Up until two weeks ago, she continued to dance. She still danced to anything from Colombian cumbia La Pollera Colorada to LMFAO’s I’m Sexy and I Know It.

At her passing, Janina was surrounded by many loved ones, including her daughter; two grand children, Cristian and Andres Giraldo; her two caregivers, her ex-husband, and our dog Snowball.