Aurora Julieta was born on February 21, 1934 to Tomasa and Juan Bustamante in El Paso,
Texas. She had a happy childhood as one of nine siblings and enjoyed recounting her
childhood days surrounded by loving friends and a large extended family. She explored her
neighborhood under the star on Mount Franklin, “finding” horses, shooting marbles with the
boys and playing hopscotch with her sisters. On a special day, they might each get a quarter to
ride the streetcar downtown for a movie and ice cream.
She was a bright student who attended Bell, Lamar and El Paso High schools. After graduating
from La High in 1953, she met and married the love of her life, George. They had four incredibly
attractive and intelligent children. Julie was an active member of the community, volunteering in
a number of organizations including women’s clubs, the PTA, and serving as a Girl Scout
Leader and a Cub Scout Den Mother. Her unique style of parenting included telling stories in
made up languages, encouraging reading at the dinner table, and playing raucous games like
Mama Chase the Babies. They enjoyed family trips to visit cousins, Disneyland and Vegas.
Julie worked in a variety of positions at a bank, an insurance company and a hospital, ultimately
becoming a medical transcriber and insurance processor for Drs. Morton, Blumenfeld, Spier and
Charbonneau. After retiring, she enjoyed traveling, serving as a eucharistic minister, renovating
her home, gardening, reading, solving word puzzles and sitting on her big, fat chair. But the
pride and joy of her later life were her grandchildren. She perfected the arts of corny jokes and
snuggles, and quickly established herself as a willing accomplice for shenanigans, procuring
forbidden sweets, or carpooling the soccer team. Gramma Drulie, aka G-Money, aka Purple
Grandma was always ready and willing.
Our beloved Julie left us on September 28 after a heroic battle with renal disease, but she will
remain forever in our hearts. She is survived by her children, Carolyn Smith, Arlene Abraham,
Anna Abraham and George Abraham; her sisters, Eva Rayon and Ana Gomez; and her beloved
friends Yvonne Chapa and Laura Rodriguez. She was preceded in death by her husband,
George Henry Abraham; her parents Juan and Tomasa Bustamante; her sister Florinda
(Ernesto) Velez; her brothers Hugo (Mary) Bustamante, Cipriano (Consuelo) Bustamante, Juan
Bustamante, Arturo Bustamante, and Rafael (Cecilia) Bustamante; and her brothers-in law,
Jaime Rayon and Manuel Gomez.
The family would like to thank Bertha and James and the staff at TLC Home Healthcare
Services for their kind and professional attention in our home; the staff of the Progressive Care
Unit on the fourth floor of Providence Memorial Hospital; and the staff of Hospice of El Paso.
Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to St. Jude Catholic Church, 4006 Hidden Way, El
Paso, TX 79922.
