Dorothy “Lala” Silva Morales was born on February 6, 1937, in San Bernardino, CA to the parents of Silvestre Silva and Maria Jesus Hernandez. She is survived by two brothers, Silvestre Silva Jr., and Gustavo Silva and two sisters. She is preceded by her son Richard Arthur Morales and is survived by two daughters Carol Morales and Sandra Morales (Escudero). Dorothy has four grandchildren, Melissa Chavez, Michael, Arnold, and Richard Medina. She has nine great grandchildren, Chris and Joseph Salcido, Danielle, Destinee, Daniel, and Dallas Chavez and Savannah, Duke and Luke Medina. She also has two great great-grandchildren Avalie and Violet Salcido. She also has a son-in-law Eric Escudero and grand son-in-law Daniel Chavez.
Dorothy worked over 40 years in retail and retired from JC Penney. Dorothy had a passion for cooking and owned a restaurant for a short period of time. She enjoyed having the family over to eat. Every where she was invited, she never came emptied handed. She would bring a little something for everyone to enjoy eating.
Dorothy was very active in her community. She volunteered at various senior centers in the area. Anywhere she went, she made friends with everyone. She really enjoyed having lunch at the senior centers with her new friends, and of course she would take food for everyone. She was well known for her menudo, and even won first place in a menudo contest. Dorothy was also known for her very authentic tamales. These are just a couple of her famous recipes, as she had many others…too many to name.
Family time was very important to her. Our mom’s place was known as a place to gather for birthdays and holidays. The house on Julie Street was the place where all the parties were held. Her two brothers would visit frequently at the house to enjoy a home cooked meal made by their sister Lala.
Lala will be missed by many, but she will never be forgotten. It’s now up to her daughters and grandchildren to carry on her family traditions of cooking and having family time.
