Ramiro Elias Maldonado, age 90 passed away on Friday, July 27, 2018. Ramiro Elias Maldonado Mendoza was born on June 6, 1928 in East Chicago, Indiana, to Elias Maldonado and Carmen Mendoza Maldonado. He lived with his parents in Harbor, Indiana until age five. Becoming victims of the Great Depression and the Repatriation Act, his father sold everything they owned, bought a car and returned the family to Pedernales, Chihuahua, Mexico. As they crossed the border, his father registered his birth in El Paso, Texas. Ramiro grew up in Pedernales with his three siblings. There, he also met the love of his life, Evangelina Rodriguez, when they were 16 and 18. They didn't see each other again until their relationship truly began 8 years later.
Ramiro's father had passed away when he was 16 years old. At the age of 19, he decided to return to the United States to look for work to help his mother and siblings survive. Ramiro didn't speak the language; he didn't have any money and he had no connections in the United States. He only had his third grade education. Ramiro became a farm worker throughout the southwest. In the 1950s he ended up in Watsonville, CA, where he found steady work at Schurrich Apple Orchard.
He and Evangelina began writing letters to each other in March, 1956. At the age of 28, Ramiro traveled to Chihuahua and married Evangelina on November 14, 1956. Together, they returned to Watsonville where they began their family, and their first four children were born. Ramiro realized that he would need to leave the apple orchard in order to make a better life for his family. In 1966, he moved his family to San Jose, CA where their fifth child was born. In 1971, he and Evangelina purchased their first home, where Ramiro lived until his final day.
Ramiro worked at Pittsburg Des Moines Steel Company from 1966 through 1994, retiring as the crane operator. He had the pleasure of working with many family members at PDM. They had the opportunity to get to know him in a much different role than that of the family patriarch, and appreciated how much he did for his family. Once he retired, Ramiro helped his wife care for their numerous grandchildren, who kept them young. When his wife passed away on October 2, 2016, he was able to give his surviving family the gift of getting to know him in a different light. He passed away peacefully and exactly the way he wanted to, in his cherished home, "al pie de la Montana donde temprano se oculta el sol," on July 27, 2018.
Ramiro joins his beloved wife, Evangelina Maldonado, and his brother, Norberto Mendoza, who preceded him in death. He is survived by his children, for whom he was a loving father: Alma (Guillermo), Ramiro Jr., Elsa (John), Osvaldo (Diane) and Olga (Paul); and devoted grandfather of 12 and great-grandfather of eight. He is also survived by his two loving sisters, Arminda Quinonez and Julieta Lucero, and their families, along with numerous other family members and dear friends.
A Rosary will be held on Sunday, August 12, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. at Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel, 710 Willow Street, San Jose. Viewing from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and again after the Rosary, until 9:00 p.m.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, August 13, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Julie Billiart Parish, 366 St. Julie Drive, San Jose (at the corner of Cottle Road and Curie Drive). Interment to follow at Cedar Lawn Memorial Park, 48730 Warm Springs Blvd., Fremont.
A Celebration of Life will be held after the interment, beginning at 2:00 p.m., at San Jose Moose Lodge 401, 1825 Mount Pleasant Road, San Jose.
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