Evangelina Narvaez

A Tribute to Evangelina Narváez April 8, 1920 - July 4, 2020 "A long life, well-lived."

The outdoor memorial service was held at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills at The Church of the Hills at 2pm on July 30th. It was recorded and posted to YouTube and can be found here. A lovely memoir about Eva in La Opinión can be found here.

Eva, affectionately known as "Maki" by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, was born April 8, 1920, in El Paso, Texas to Antonia and Vicente Lopez.  She attended school in both El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, México, refining her bilingual skills and winning multiple scholastic awards.  During the Depression, Eva played the cello and sang as part of a music group with her brothers Vicente and Ruben, and her sister Celia.

Something that many who knew her may not know is that as a young woman, Eva nearly attained her pilot's license. She had a love of flying and was proud to be secretary of her flying club in El Paso. In summer of 1941, Eva was just 4 hours short of qualifying for her solo flight when World War II shut down the airfields in El Paso, preventing her from realizing her dream to achieve her wings. The post-depression economy and the war propelled the Lopez family to seek opportunity westward, and they came to Los Angeles.

Eva led a very long and successful career at La Opinión as a Classified Advertising manager for 46 years. Highly respected by her colleagues and renowned in her field, the Los Angeles Times even requisitioned her employ from La Opinión for a time so she could lend her expertise in truth in advertising standards. Eva also served in ANCAM (Association of Newspaper Classified Advertising Managers) where she was recognized for her work during International Want Ad Week, and on the SCCAMA (Southern California Classified Advertising Managers Association) Advisory Board, to which she was elected unanimously. At age 76 she retired from La Opinión, but Eva continued to serve her church and her community. She still volunteered at La Opinión on occasion, but she mostly volunteered at the White Memorial SDA Medical Center's Chaplain's Department, serving there into her late 80's. She enjoyed passing out spiritual writings to sick patients, reading scriptures with them, and singing and praying with them.

Eva was a proud and faithful member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She never forgot the life-changing day she was awaiting care at the White Memorial when a kindly Bible worker opened her heart to accepting Christ. A devout Adventist ever since, she, along with her good friends Eufrosina Benitez, Atalia de la Vara, and Plácido and Eva Ortiz, was a founding member of the Lincoln Heights Spanish SDA church.  There she served in many missionary efforts such as passing out literature throughout Lincoln Heights to ensure the community knew the church was there for them, driving her van full of fellow Dorcas Society church volunteers to the Arizona-México border to give donations of clothing and gifts at Christmas time, and leading church groups to Los Angeles County General Hospital to read scriptures, sing hymns, and worship with patients in their greatest times of need. Musically gifted, Eva sang in the church choir well into her 90's, often accompanying them on her cello.

Eva passed away in Glendale on July 4, 2020, at 100 years old. She is survived by her daughters, Antonia Leonor Loxsom-Salazar and Sandra Narváez McLeod, 4 grandchildren, Emily Weitz, Adriana Chastain, Sarah Gutierrez, and Aaron Salazar; 9 great-grandchildren; and 3 great-great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her daughter, Rosalinda Narváez, in 2009. Eva loved her family and was devoted to their care. She will be missed tremendously and her family takes comfort that after a long, honorable life, her Lord has called her home and she is now at peace.

Memorial donations may be made on Eva's behalf to the Southern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for the Lincoln Heights Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church.