For those who were born and raised in the Segundo Barrio, life was not going to be easy. For those born there during our country’s Great Depression, life was filled with even greater challenges. During these hard times, the tough little girl who became known as Chita faced these challenges and everything else life threw her way with the same pride, strength and determination she would carry within her throughout her life.
In order to help provide for her siblings Lola, Priscilla, Nena, Mundo, and Stella, she was required to drop out of school in the fifth grade and went to work cleaning local tenements and businesses. After several years of working as a young child, she sought peace and refuge as a teenager at a local convent located in the lower valley where she explored a possible life as a nun. Her time there was relatively short lived, but in looking back on her life she would fondly describe these days and months as some of the most beautiful times of her life.
She returned home to help her mother support the family once again and worked in the bustling downtown El Paso retail establishment Newberry’s in the early 50’s. It was there that she met a young man named Juan Segura who was recently back from military service in Korea. He would stop by daily and do what many smitten young men often do, offer a ride home. At some point she acquiesced, and they began dating. They spent many days and nights out dancing and celebrating life. He eventually proposed, and they married at Immaculate Conception church.
As their family began to grow they moved into the home where they would raise their three children, Chayo (Shy), John Albert and Michael. She helped raise her first grandchildren Jason and Stacey, and once they were old enough she returned to the workforce. She spent her final working years as a proud graveyard shift employee of El Paso’s first Walmart from which she retired. She wasn’t done caring for others though and spent the final chapters of her life helping raise three more grandchildren, Crystal, Victoria and Jeanette and enjoying the time spent her other two grandchildren Karina and Vanessa. Most of her time though was spent at home with her husband watching her favorite reality tv shows.
More than anything she loved her children. She loved them as only a woman with a heart the size of hers could. In her world class stubbornness, she may have never told them because she wanted to ensure they remained grounded, but in counseling her grandchildren, she would often share that her three kids brought her the only true happiness she had ever known. She couldn’t have been more proud of each of them and the persons they grew to be and the grandchildren they bore. She loved the road trips across the country with her daughter, the morning coffee with her son John and the backyard cookouts with her son Michael. She loved the visits from all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Johnny, Destiny and David. Her son-in-law Eddie Rodriguez, daughter-in-law Letty Segura, and grandson-in-law David Contreras also played very important roles in her life with their generosity. Their assistance and time spent created memories she forever cherished.
In her final years, her son John and granddaughter Crystal gave her the finest level of care filled with such an incredible amount of love and compassion. There are no real words to describe our most gracious thanks and the utmost gratitude to each of them for their service to her.
Our departed matriarch encouraged all of us to see the beauty and wonder in life and in each other. She showed us what it meant to love unconditionally. She showed us how to give. She showed us that respect, kindness, forgiveness and love cost nothing but will make you rich in ways unimaginable.
Most importantly though, she taught each of us what a life dedicated to the service of others looks like. In return, she wanted nothing more than to be thought of and prayed for when she was alive and not be forgotten after she was gone. We love you. We will miss you. And we will keep our promise to forever hold you in our hearts until we meet again Grandma.
Love,
Your grandson Jason
* Our family would like to extend a special thank you to Andrea from TLC Hospice. You treated our grand lady with such dignity and kindness and we all appreciate your service to her.
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