Orlinda Aragon

On the night of Wednesday March 27, 2024, at the age of 91, Mrs. Orlinda Aragon was called to our Heavenly Father’s side; she went just as peacefully as she lived, in the comfort of her “Easy Chair.” It was reported that her “heart failed” in the way of not being strong enough to make the next beat, however we, who are the recipients of her love, know that her heart never failed to love us. Even when her mind couldn’t make all the connections that it once did, she remembered how to show love to the little children and animals. She had a desire to live life!

Orlinda loved serving The Lord and her family with a kind heart and a strong will. She grew up in a time when the older children needed to stay home from school in order to take care of the house, cook meals, and care for the younger siblings; while the adults went to work, and in the third grade this is where the foundation was laid for the sister, mother, and grandmother; that we all know today.

She and her three brothers lived a satisfied life with their mother on her paternal grandparent’s property in La Placitas, New Mexico, while her father, Paul Sisneros, worked out of state. Sadly, he eventually quit coming home. So, with these facts “Momma” Elaisa Gallegos decided it was time to move on with young Orlinda and her brothers, but those early years spent with her grandparents only further instilled the loving, caring nature of the sweet lady we remember. After a letter was sent and received around the age of seven, Orlinda's aunt brought a car to take them to live in Delta at the “Las Colonias”, with other working families. This, as you can imagine, formed the admirable work ethic that Grandma Orlinda is so well known for.

In this town, her mother got married to Julio Navarro, and she was given seven more siblings to love and care for. After all nine of her brothers were born and cared for, she was blessed with a little sister that she adored. But by this point, it was time for her to move out with her beloved husband, George Aragon, and start his own family. Never forgetting her relatives, she enjoyed sending out cards or letters and making phone calls to keep in touch with the ones she loved. She also set aside time to visit her Momma yearly.

Up until this point Orlinda had lived a busy life, but now at the age of nineteen, it was just the beginning. Orlinda met and fell in love with her one true love at a carnival in Delta. They had a short courtship that led to their marriage on February 14, 1952. George was 25 years old at the time and he moved his beautiful wife to Austin, Colorado where his father owned a hollow with different dwellings for the families to live. On this land, Orlinda gave George their first two sons, Lloyd and Pat Aragon. Shortly after Pat turned three years old, they saved up for their first home in Delta and years later Orlinda would give birth to two more sons, Eugene and Carlos Aragon. Later in 1969, they moved to Grand Junction where their children grew and started their own families adding up to ten grandchildren in total, most of whom were sheltered and cared for by Mrs. Orlinda at some point in their life. From these ten grandchildren, Orlinda became a great-grandmother to many babies, with whom she enjoyed visiting with until the day she passed. George and Orlinda’s union lasted 67 years with many great memories and adventures. They spent many years watching their grandson play baseball and seeing the great-grandchildren being brought into the world; those were joyful times for everyone.

Unfortunately, they had to bury one granddaughter, Linda M. Aragon (13) in 1998, then two of their four sons. The first of their sons to pass was Lloyd Aragon (44) in 1997, followed by Gene (56) in 2017. Then sadly, Orlinda was widowed in March 2019. After the loss of her sweetheart, she was diagnosed with dementia, and slowly started to slip away from this world. She always had a certain amount of respect for others as well as herself. She would not go out without having her hair and clothes in perfect order! She expected a certain kind of order in her home, we all knew she would want a picture before anyone left the house during the holidays. She received her first camera when she was twelve years old, it would take weeks for the pictures to be returned because she had to send the film to Kansas to be developed. But she was diligent in keeping those moments forever frozen in time.

The lives she touched are not limited to her family, but also to many friends and members of her community. Orlinda was active in serving the Lord; she wholeheartedly enjoyed volunteering her skills to anyone in need. She often served meals at the Catholic Outreach and helped other seniors in the valley with cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, or sometimes just a visit and this continued into her 80’s! At different times in her marriage, she decided to work outside of the house and other times, she would get creative with her sewing and visit consignment shops just to put a little more money into their savings. She had a natural talent for saving money, she always kept a cellar, or closet, or cold room for her canning and to stock supplies. She enjoyed making beautiful quilts for her family and to sell during the holidays. A camping trip to “The Forks' ' was always looked forward to by the cousins, Pleasure Park was a favorite of hers to fish and be with the family, while serving them spam and egg sandwiches, and fried potatoes. A person can’t help but to respect a woman with such integrity.

She lived a good long life, and she is deeply missed and mourned as a beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, friend and most importantly, as an example of a faithful servant of God!