Frances Aguilar Melendrez

She was born on February 25, 1924 in Mulatos, Sonora, México and was the oldest child of Andres Aguilar Heras and Rosa Lara Garcia de Aguilar. Her mother passed away when she was eight, and as a consequence, she took care of her younger siblings, especially her youngest sister at the time whom she raised. She never stopped taking care of her family and her community, giving of her time, energy and resources throughout her 99 years. Even at 96 years, Frances was the primary caregiver for her beloved daughter Martha during her two year battle with lung cancer.

Frances moved to Yecora as a teenager and ran a general store for her father with her brother and two of her sisters. Always with a maternal heart, she didn’t consider marriage until these two younger sisters were married. She was always compassionate and generous. Because of a lack of doctors and nurses in Yecora, she learned how to give injections for her family and all her neighbors and townspeople. Many people of lesser means knocked on her door because they knew they could always depend on her for food and other basic needs. After separating early in her marriage, she began feeding workers to earn the funds to start her own general store in order to support her three very young children. Eventually, despite having established a successful store, she made the difficult decision to move to the United States in order to give better educational opportunities to her children. She settled in Temecula, CA before moving to the Los Angeles area and took menial jobs to support her young family. She loved children and later spent many years taking care of toddlers. Later in life, she had the great pleasure of helping raise her two oldest grandsons.

Family was very important to Frances and her greatest joys were her children and grandchildren whom she loved unconditionally. She remained close to her siblings throughout her life. She was a special aunt to many of her nephews and nieces and she made each feel like they were her favorite. She enjoyed big family gatherings, especially if there was music and dancing. She also loved animals, plants and nature which brought her much joy. Her faith, storytelling, humor and humility won her many friends, including those she met while visiting her grown children. These friends would stop her children in a store or on a neighborhood street to ask about her and when she would be back. A word that comes to mind to describe Frances is humility. To paraphrase a famous quote, her humility was not because she thought less of herself, but because she always put others first.

Most of all, it was her faith that defined who she was and how she saw the world. She began each of her days and ended them with her prayer books, and always looked for ways to pass on her faith in God to her children. She was an inspiration to many, and all of her children felt that she had a direct line to the Almighty. Her faith played a central role in giving her the strength to raise her young family in a foreign country with only a basic primary education. She was always thankful for her family, many friends and even strangers who played a central role in helping her with her young family from the first few weeks of her separation from her husband until her children were grown and working. To her, this was the hand of God answering her prayers. Frances was a loving and supportive mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, daughter, mother-in-law, and friend and she will be greatly missed by all who loved her.

Frances was preceded in death by her parents; siblings Goya Hurtado (David, decd.), of San Diego CA, Leonardo Aguilar (Lydia) of Cd. Obregon, Sonora MX, Guicha Guerrero (Luis) of Cd. Madera, Chihuahua MX; and oldest daughter, Martha Laux and her husband John of Newbury Park CA. She is survived by siblings Andres Aguilar Jr. (Ester, decd.) of Cd. Obregon, Sonora MX, Josefina Wyckaert (John) of Cerritos CA, Adela Arambula (Carlos, decd.) of Valencia,CA; by her children Lourdes Del Frate and husband Renzo of Albuquerque, NM and Jesus (Jesse) Melendrez and wife Mary of Bellaire, TX; and grandchildren John Laux, Andrew Laux both of Newbury Park, CA, Francesca Del Frate of San Francisco, CA, Isabella Del Frate of London, UK, Noah Melendrez of Bellaire, TX, Eli Melendrez of Austin, TX and Enrico Del Frate of Palo Alto, CA.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks-Griffin Mortuary, 5600 Lindero Canyon Rd, Westlake Village, CA 91362. Interment will follow immediately after the service