Lucha Rivera Miller

Maria de la Luz (“Lucha”) Rivera Miller of San Rafael, California, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family on June 1, 2024. Maria de la Luz means “Our Lady of the Light,” and Lucha was indeed the light and heart of her family and large extended family.

Lucha was born on November 29, 1933, in Mexico City and lived and was educated there until she moved to the United States for college. Her father, Gonzalo Rivera, was an educator who emigrated from Honduras to Mexico City, where he became Superintendent of Schools. Lucha’s mother, Maria de la Luz Gutiérrez Rivera, was born in Mexico City and resided there throughout her life. Lucha attended college in Los Angeles. After college, Lucha worked in advertising at Proctor & Gamble until her marriage. Lucha met her husband, John (“Jack”) Miller in Mexico City. They were married on October 25, 1954, in a triple ceremony at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, together with her sister Estela and husband Dick Katerndahl, and their parents, who renewed their vows at the same ceremony.

Lucha’s son, John Paul Miller, whom she adored above anything in the world, was born on October 7, 1957. Thereafter, Lucha was a homemaker, mother to John, and beloved second mother to her sister Estela’s children. After the kids were grown, Lucha and Estela founded their own Spanish language advertising agency, Spanish Creative, which flourished for many years and numbered among its clients Safeway and General Mills. Lucha was also a gifted flamenco dancer, but her parents discouraged that as a career and insisted on college. Then she met Jack and the rest is history.

Lucha was a devout Catholic and the matriarch, heart and soul of her extended family. One of her nephews said upon her death that she might have been the only person in the world about whom no one had anything negative to say; she was “practically perfect in every way.” As another noted, everything Lucha ever did was for others. Lucha was also glamorous; she and sister Estela were always elegantly dressed and always wore hats. A fellow St. Raphael’s parishioner recently remarked that Lucha and Estela did not merely walk into a room (or Mass); they made an entrance. Lucha’s family and friends also described what they called the Doña Lucha effect: Lucha’s warmth and elegance drew people like a magnet, and wherever she went, be it restaurant, store or hospital, people flocked to welcome and assist her as the rest of the family quietly followed along.

Lucha was preceded in death by her son John, husband Jack, sister Estela and brothers Armando and Salvador (“Chava”) Rivera, her parents, and nephew Richard Katerndahl. She is survived by her nephews Kevin, John, Carl and Paul Katerndahl, nieces Lucette Besson and Francine Herzer, sons-in-law Karl Herzer and Herb Besson, daughters-in-law Carmen, Rebecca and Sheila Katerndahl and Penny Preovolos, and 19 beloved grand and great-grand nieces and nephews. Lucha was loving to a fault, gifted, warm, generous, and caring, but with a quiet will of steel and limitless courage. We will miss her very much.

A Funeral Mass will be held in the Mission Chapel at 11:00 am on Saturday, July 20, 2024 at St. Raphael Parish: 1104 5th Ave, San Rafael, CA 94901. All are welcome.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Cancer Society.