Elizabeth Vilatoba Macias

Elizabeth Vilatoba Macias was born in Los Angeles, California to Mario Vilatoba Ros and Francesca Pujol Vidaurreta, a region of Catalonia in Spain. A first generation U.S. Citizen, Elizabeth spent her early years living in Mexico and eventually settled in San Diego, California with her mother where she established her life and the beginning of her career.

Elizabeth was a woman who achieved everything she dedicated her mind to. She earned her Bachelors Degree from National University in 1985, and later went on to earn a Juris Doctorate from Lincoln Law School in 1990. She was sworn into the State Bar of California in 1991. Elizabeth was a brilliant and well-regarded Silicon Valley attorney working in software and technology licensing contracts for companies both large and small for over 30 years.

Elizabeth was proud of her Spanish heritage and had a fascination with her parents' home of origin. Her father began as a painter in Spain and continued to paint professionally in Mexico.She was able to get to know relatives in Barcelona, Spain and visit the town of Sabadell, Spain where her grandfather, Juan Vilatoba, is famed for his work in photography from the early 1900s.

To no surprise, Elizabeth had a strong interest in learning photography herself and took up photography as a hobby. She enjoyed fine dining, exotic foods, exploring new places, running marathons, and hiking. She loved to travel and had the chance to travel to many countries, including the opportunity later in life to briefly reside in France to study and improve her French language skills. Elizabeth was trilingual in English, Spanish, and French, and could understand Catalan.

Her family history, educational achievements, career success, and recreational enjoyments were all points of pride and were an important component of her identity. Her friends and family were the other backbone to her identity and the gem that she held in her heart. Elizabeth always put others first and would do anything to help her friends, of which she had many. She had amazing experiences with the friends she made throughout the decades and she valued those friendships tremendously. She loved her daughter and grandchildren very deeply and experienced great delight when she spent time with them.

In her own words, "Every moment, while each may seem unremarkable at the time, comes around only once, and it's all those moments strung together that create the wonderful essence of our existence." She lived a remarkable life!

Preceeded in death by her parents Mario Vilatoba Ros and Francesca Pujol Vidaurreta. She is survived by her brother Eduardo Vilatoba and his children, Eduardo, Rosana, and Mario; her daughter, Marissa (Philip) Sherman; her ex-husband Ernest Macias (spouse of over 38 years and father of Marissa Sherman); her grandson, Dominik Philip Sherman; and her granddaughter, Corinne Attalia Sherman.