Maria Esperanza Alcala

Maria Esperanza "Hope" Santellano Alcala, 93, from Van Nuys, California, died peacefully on September 5, 2024. She grew up in Van Nuys and loved to share wonderful memories of her childhood. Hope was proud to be a first-generation American, as her parents, Severiano Santellano and Maria Galvan, immigrated from Mexico. Although she faced many prejudices while growing up, Hope was proud of her successes in work and friendships. She was a cafeteria manager for many years in the Los Angeles Unified School District. After her retirement, Hope was instrumental in establishing the “Van Nuys Barrio Homies,” a group of her childhood friends and their children who would meet once a month to maintain their childhood friendships. These meetings brought her great joy, but unfortunately disbanded in 2020 due to COVID. Her affection for her lifelong friends lived on.

Hope was married to Manuel Alcala Sr. for 28 years and maintained a strong love and friendship with him after their divorce. She was the mother of their four children, Manuel Jr., Cynthia “Cindy”, Michelle, and Michael. Hope was preceded in death by Manuel Sr., Manuel Jr., Michael, and grandson Alex Alcala.

Hope is survived by daughter Cynthia Alcala, son-in-law Dennis Batey, grandson Stephen Alcala and his wife Meredith, great grandchildren James and Cassandra, granddaughters Sylvia Alcala and Sarah-Michael Batey; daughter Michelle Alcala Stein, son-in-law Steve Stein, grandson Michael and his wife Rusti; daughter-in-law Patricia Alcala, grandson Maximillian Castillo and his partner Rik Perez, granddaughter Crystal Lusk and her husband Sean Lusk; and son-in-law Dan Leiner, partner to the late Michael Alcala, and Dan’s husband Timothy Lippman. She is also survived by her brother, Edmundo “Mundo” Santellano, and many nieces and nephews. Hope was mother/grandmother-in-love to many, many friends and children of friends, including Linda and Dominic Fawcett, Karen Kodish Rubalcava, Robyn Snodgrass, the Lok Ung family, Zhenya Diadyura, Bob Johnson, and Kelli Draves Caskey, just to name a few.

Memorial services for Hope will be held Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 9:00 A.M. at the Chapel of the Oaks in Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery (22601 Lassen Street, Chatsworth, California). A lunch reception will follow the service.

Hope had a love of quilting and, up until the last week of her life, made quilts for homeless children in the San Fernando Valley. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission (https://sfvrescuemission.org).