Rogelia Mendez was born on March 16, 1961 and passed away on May 17, 2020. She bravely battled against cancer for two years and sadly lost that battle. She was a loving and devoted mother, wife, grandmother, sister, daughter, teacher and friend. Our mother was filled with love for family, education, and culture.
From Javier, her husband:
Espero donde estes que yo se que estas con Cristo Jesus. Te extrano mucho. Te amo y te amare. Siempre estaras en mi corazon. Te quiero Rogelia. Nunca te olvidare.
From Zoila and Anabel, her daughters:
Our mother enjoyed being with her family. She loved cooking and sharing a meal together. Our mother taught us so much. One of her most important lessons to us was how to work hard and to persevere in the face of great struggles. She taught us to be curious, ask questions, try new things and to have fun. She also taught us how to be brave. She always loved visiting new places and learning. Some of our fondest memories are of us all taking family vacations and exploring new places together.
Our mom adored her sisters, brothers and mother. She celebrated birthdays, holidays and simple BBQs with joy with all of them. She valued their relationship and always looked forward to spending time with them all.
Our mom had a love of culture as well. She loved art, music and food. She would often go to concerts, museums and theater productions.
One of her greatest achievements was getting her master’s degree. Being an immigrant from Mexico our mother worked tirelessly against great odds – language barriers, raising daughters, supporting a household all while continuing her education and getting her degrees. We have great pride in all that our mother achieved.
Our mom loved teaching at Bellflower High and spent her entire teaching career there. Every morning we would watch our mother get ready for work and put on her amazing outfits. She took pride in getting ready so beautifully to go and teach every day. Our mother was devoted to help students achieve their full potential and was proud to have helped them on their journey. She enjoyed imparting knowledge and support to her students and their families. She often ran fundraisers with her co-teachers to help students take the AP test or go to Language and Cultural Immersion trips to France and Spain. She especially adored her teaching team Lauley, Stacie, Angelica and Art. Thank you to you all for all the support and love you gave her, especially through the more difficult times when battling her illness.
And thank you to all that knew and loved our mother and saw what an amazing force she was. She brightened our lives and taught us some of the greatest lessons in life. How to be kind, compassionate, to appreciate life and to work hard to achieve our dreams.
We are comforted knowing that she lived her dream every single day of her life.
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