Cecilia Blutstein

Cecilia “Ceci” Aldasoro Blutstein, 86 of Washington, DC passed away on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. Ceci was born in Mexico City, Mexico on November 22, 1936 and was one of six children of parents Juan Pablo Aldasoro and Carolina Chulia Mallet. As a child she was a dancer and musician for the Ballet Folclórico de México and participated in a cultural exchange program where she lived with her late best friend Marcia Weinstein in Middletown, OH.

On September 30, 1961, she married her loving husband Howard Irving Blutstein in Mexico City. They met through her sister, Carolina, while he was working in the foreign service in Tijuana, Mexico. When visiting Mexico City, Carolina asked Cecilia to show him the town, and they slowly fell in love. Through the foreign service, they lived in Bolivia, Peru, and Spain.

When they returned to the States, Ceci opened a daycare center called Child Garden Nursery, where she cared for 42 children. She never denied access to any child, even if the parents could not pay. At the same time, Ceci and Howard owned and operated four ice cream stores in Northwest DC (three Baskin-Robbins and one Swensen), with the help of their children Claudia and John-Paul. After selling the ice cream stores, Ceci went on to work at the National Institute of Health as an office manager in many different departments, her favorite being the Epilepsy Foundation. She worked at NIH until her retirement at age 82.

Cecilia loved the arts and shared that love with her children and her only granddaughter. Her favorite instrument was the guitar and she loved to sing, especially with her family. She was also an avid swimmer and was training to be an Olympic swimmer for Mexico when she was younger. Aside from the arts and being in the water, her other love was her children. She dedicated much of her life to caring for her eldest daughter, Emilia, who was diagnosed with an intellectual disability and epilepsy at a very young age.

Ceci is survived by her loving husband, Howard; her three children, Emilia Blutstien, Claudia Blutstein Carter, John-Paul Blutstein; her only granddaughter, Jasper Elizabeth Carter; and many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her parents, Juan Pablo and Carolina; and her siblings, Carlos, Susana, Carolina, Jose, and Enrique.

A visitation will be at Joseph Gawler’s Sons Funeral Home on Tuesday, April 11 from 4 to 7pm. A visitation will be held o Wednesday, April 12, 2023 from 10:00-11:00AM at the Blessed Sacrament Church, 5949 Western Avenue NW Washington, DC 20015, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00AM. Interment will follow at George Washington Cemetery in Adelphi, Maryland.

After interment services, the family will hold a reception at The Amani Event Center, 4216 Howard Road Beltsville, MD 20705, from 2:30 until 6:30PM.