Cristela Rivera

Cristela was born to Pedro and Elida Rivera on May 27,1965. When we stop to think of reasons to celebrate her life a number of them come to mind. Cristela's death was sudden and we are all hurting, but we could not let this day go by without sharing some of our warmest memories of her.

As we all know Cristela was a wonderful person with a caring heart and spirit of service. Her love for the family was evident in everything she did. We all remember how hard it was to work in the fields through inclement weather and her positive attitude to motivate us to achieve our financial goal that eventually improved our quality of life.

If our parents or any of our siblings needed anything we knew we could count on her to help without hesitation. Then the family began growing and she was ready to lovingly embrace nieces and nephews along with her own children once they made their grand entrance. Cris was the coolest aunt anyone could have ever have and a loving mother who would ensure her children were safe and happy.

She was driven to excellence in everything she did and took great pride in her accomplishments. As an educator she served the children in her community with love and respect. Her strong sense of humor, intelligence, and love for children brought her to a successful teaching career. She knew that preparation is key to success and that example is the best lesson. Therefore, in order to serve every student's individual need to the best of her God's given talent, she continued to grow professionally and acquired a Master's and Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership.

In spite of her serious side Cristela loved having a good time and showed us that life should be fun. She enjoyed her Cowboy games, family barbeques, taking trips, lazy afternoons at home and always went out of her way to make life fun for us.

Cristela was a wonderful sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, friend, and teacher. She is survived by her children Marco Humberto Peña II, Alexis Peña and Jaqueline Peña; her siblings Cynthia Rivera, Nelda Segura, Michael Rivera, Pedro Rivera Jr. and Dorina Segura and her grandchildren, Marco Humberto Peña III, Maelani Rae Dinnall and Nikki Kelly Peña.

I know that she will be missed by all of us. Sweet Cristela give Gary, Mom and Dad many hugs and kisses and until we meet again come visit us in our dreams. We wish you peace and will always love you.