Mary Robles

Mary was born on August 21, 1923 in Jerome, Arizona to Refugio and Eulalia Vais Rozalez. Her mother died when she was 2 months old, at that time she and her brother Manuel went to live with their grandmother in La Habra, California where she was raised around many family members. Her Uncle, Brijido Vais, helped support her during her early life. Her Uncle bought her a piano at age 10 which she learned to play and began her love of music. She continued playing throughout her life. She was still playing as of July of last year.

During WWII she worked at the Consolidated Vultee defense plant in Downey which produced the Catalina PBY airplanes, she was one of many “Rosie the Riviters”. During that time, she met Fermin Robles an active duty Army soldier, who had recently returned from service in the Aleutian Islands. They were married on November 12, 1944. Shortly after they were married, Fermin shipped off to Europe where he participated in combat operations in France, Belgium and Germany. He returned home in late 1945 and they made their home in La Puente. They went on to have 4 children, Eddie (who preceded her in death), Julie, Bill and Gloria. Fermin died in 1988, they were married for 44 years.

While her children were young Mary was a homemaker and enjoyed it very much. When her children were older, she worked as a teacher’s aide at Workman Elementary school in La Puente for many years. After her son Eddie passed away she did not want to live alone, she lived with her daughter Julie and her family in Ontario for a few years, then went to live with her daughter Gloria and her family for 28 years, the remainder of her life.

In her later years, she traveled to Europe, Hawaii and the Eastern United States with family and friends. In addition to enjoying the piano, she also loved cooking, knitting and crocheting. The most important things in her life were her faith and family. She was one of the most friendly, caring and kind person you could ever meet. She had more friends than you could count and made new ones everywhere she went. She leaves behind her 3 children, Julie Mathiesen (John), Bill Robles (Diane), Gloria Prater (Wade), 6 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. She lived a full wonderful life and embraced every moment of it. She will be greatly missed.