Maria Elena DeLaCerda, 54, wife of 23 years to Larry DeLaCerda passed away peacefully on Wednesday September 14th, 2022 in Kaweah Delta Hospital. Maria was the mother to her son Larry DeLaCerda (19) and her daughter Chelsea Aguirre (27). Maria was born to Veronica Galindo and Jesse Navarrete on December 12th, 1967 in Frankfurt, Germany. She grew up in Visalia, CA and she graduated from Golden West High School where she played volleyball. After high school, she was accepted to many different universities, including UC Davis, and began her education in child development at College of the Sequoias and continued at the University of Hawaii. She lived in Hawaii for a few years before she moved back home and settled down in Hanford, CA. She dedicated her time being a new mother while also working hard at a full time job. She then met her husband, Larry DeLaCerda, fell in love and got married. She began her work in the Head Start program where she found her love for working with and helping children. Shortly after, she had her son and took time to be a stay at home mother and watch her children grow. She loved being at home with her children and making quirky themed desserts for their class or helping them with any homework questions, especially English. Time goes by and an amazing opportunity pops up with Visalia Unified working at their new charter school. She begins working at Visalia Charter Independent Study and finds her passion with helping children with their homework, with their school problems and with life in general. She had a knack for being a great listener and her students caught onto that quickly. She worked there for many years making differences in her students' lives by being present, being empathetic, and being her goofy self. Mary made everyone feel loved and her love was always unconditional to those around her. Mary was a devoted and dedicated wife, mother, grandma, daughter, sister, and friend. She is survived by her husband Larry, her son Larry and daughter Chelsea and her only grandchild Atticus. She is also survived by her brother Jesse and her mother Veronica. She was a woman who had great faith in God and had great love for her family. Her extremely caring nature and funny personality will be so greatly missed.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.millerchapel.com for the Delacerda family.
