Alice, sigues presente en nuestros pensamientos, a 5 años de tu partida.
Recibe un abrazo hasta el cielo.

Just found this photo from our Mar Vista High days. We had an annual Faculty Frolics to raise money for scholarships. We all sang and danced for a couple hours. Some teachers actually had talent. These girls and I just lip synced and showed our mediocre moves. But dang, we looked good in those rented gowns! 

Thinking about Alice today - on her first heavenly birthday.  I can picture her having a nice slice of chocolate cake to celebrate... maybe wearing a knitted tiara!  
This picture is from the Women's March.  We were getting into some good trouble that day.  We all wore the hats she made for us.
She stole the show with her "Free Melania" sign.  After the march we had a nice lunch where we debriefed the day's events.
That was a good day.  

La recuerdo con mucho cariño, recibe tu y tu familia un fuerte abrazo.

Dios los bendiga.

La recuerdo siempre con mucho cariño.
Fueron más de 40 años de ser cuñados.... Fueron muchos recuerdos familiares muy gratos todos.
Te llevamos siempre en el corazón gran mujer !

I have been thinking a lot about your mom lately because I had a lot of extra yarn to give away to a knitter and my first thought was to give it to her. Then I remembered her birthday is in July and when we taught summer school together many times, I would tell the kids she was 50 years old and they always believed me. When they would come back and say Mrs. Esparza says that’s not true, I would tell them that she didn’t like to admit it. That made sense to them. We laughed about that for years with Alice always threatening to get even. Many fun memories of her and still in disbelief that she isn’t still with us. 

From Ricardo Gomez, former tutor and now teacher:

Hello,
again, so sorry for the passing of your Mom. She touched so many lives.
Of the tutors pictured here, 9 went on to work in education as teachers or counselors. There are still others that came along later but not pictured here that also became educators.

Her dedication to the profession influenced so many to follow in her footsteps.

Ricardo Gomez

I met Mrs. Esparza at Mar Vista high school  as one of her AVID tutors in 1995.  I always admired her dedication to her students.  It was evident that she loved her job.  She was funny, kind and she always gave me awesome advice as I pursue my teaching career.  Twice I went with her to take AVID students to visit colleges.  She helped many Mar Vista students see a future for themselves who had no clue of their own potential.   Recently, I dropped off my daughter to UCSC and  shared with her my memory of the AVID field trip that I chaperone with Mrs.  Esparza.  To this day I still have one of her SDSU sweaters that she gave me.  May you rest is peace Mrs.  Esparza.  

Alice was a wonderful teacher at Bonita Vista Middle, such a valuable asset to the staff.  I got to know her better, though, in her role as a “Sound Unlimited” Mom to her sweet daughter, Becky., at Bonita Vista High.  Alice was a devoted Mom, and I will treasure the memories I have of her.  Many blessings to her family.

There are times when an event makes you think about what you have endure, and the people that have touched your life to help you be who you are, have what you have, do what you do. It's at that moment that you can't help to whisper a thank you. Today, I had to say thank you and good bye to one such person...Mrs. Alice Esparza. In 1988, I started mu first day as a Sophomore at Mar Vista High School. I was an angry 16 y/o girl from Mexico, I spoke no English, and I had big dreams. Needless to say, it wasn't a good day; but then, I met a beautiful white lady with a big smile and very kind eyes, Mrs. Esparza. I was enrolled in a class called AVID. After she welcomed me into the class, she explained what AVID was all about. I won't lie to you, I wasn't impressed. I was actually upset about all the extra work I would have to do for this class. As the semester went by, I got a handle on the work, and I got to know my teacher. Little by little, she managed to change my attitude, and she became my mentor. She helped me with my school work, she guided me when it came time to applying to college and scholarships, but most of all, she was always ready to patiently listened to my complaining. I managed to graduate, and I had the second highest GPA of my class, just 3 years after arriving to this country. I got into a good College, UCSD, and she continue to push to work towards achieving my dream of becoming a doctor. I came from a low income family, so money was always a problem. She hire me as AVID tutor throughout my college years, and I worked under her supervision for 4 years. I learned from her the qualities that have made me a successful doctor: the patience she had when dealing with crazy kids, the kindness she showed to all her students, the wisdom she shared with all her tutors, the friendship she shared with al her colleagues, the professionalism and work ethic she showed everyday of her teaching carreer, and the love she had for her family.  Thanks & RIP Mrs. E.     

My career as a teacher was successful in large part to Alice’s daily friendship, support, guidance, humor, and always calm demeanor the ten years we taught side by side at Mar Vista High School (Room 502 and 503)!  So many fun memories will stay with me forever. Rest In Peace, dear friend. 

OBITUARY

Alice Melinda Esparza

July 20, 1952 – September 25, 2019

Glen Abbey Memorial Park & Mortuary

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