María de Jesús Álvarez

Our dear mother, María de Jesús Álvarez, fell asleep in death on the evening of Sunday October 15, 2023 surrounded by her loving family. She lived a long and full life. She had many friends in the truth and was loved dearly by each one of them.

She was preceded in death by her son, Enrique, and her cherished siblings Jovita Muñoz, Julianna Navarrete.

She is survived by her sister Francisca Ibarra, her brothers Tobías Álvarez, and Malaquías Álvarez; her children Ofelia and Gary Scroggs, María and José; her grandchildren Michelle, Janelle and Bobby Lujan, Sabrina and Daniel Torres, Erika and Josh Delgado, Claire, and John and Blake Scroggs; her great- grandchildren Connor, Tyler, Gavin, Valerie, Karli, Breanna, Aubree, Gabriella, and Dominic; as well as her spiritual daughter, Yasmin.

María de Jesús was born in Zacatecas, Mexico on August 20, 1931. She was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses on April 11, 1970 in Ventura, California. María de Jesús devoted her life to care for her family and serve Jehovah whole-heartedly. She was convinced of the truth found in God’s word the bible; as a result, she served as a regular pioneer for many years, even back in the day when the time to dedicate to the preaching work was 90 hours a month and she still managed to work full-time! Each week, she was happily attending and greeting everyone that was gathered at the kingdom hall. In her long-time congregation, Lindo Progreso, she enjoyed preparing ahead of time and giving meaningful comments about what was being discussed. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, she would attend the meetings via Zoom and participated enthusiastically in letter and phone witnessing. Those that studied the bible with her could tell that she was genuinely interested in their well-being and wanted them to learn about and love Jehovah. She was patient, humble, loving, modest, compassionate, funny, kind, and most of all loyal to Jehovah always.

She will be missed by her family, friends, and all who knew her. We are comforted by the promise found in Acts 24:15 "I have hope toward God,...that there is going to be a resurrection." This is a promise that María de Jesús knew about and believed with all her heart. So we look forward to the day when we get to hug and kiss our dear Mother again on earthly paradise around the corner!

There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, November 18, 2023 at 1pm to be held at Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall located at 651 Hobson Way in Oxnard.