Ramona Rodriguez Perez

1929 - 2022

Ramona R. Perez was many things to many people. But the things everyone immediately noticed about Ramona were her radiant beauty and charm. She loved conversation, recalling her youth and family history, and she sincerely enjoyed socializing with whomever, whenever. In another era, with her exceptional imagination, she would have been a famous writer, or ambassador to the United Nations, such was her love of being with people, talking, laughing and giving advice! She was never boring. Ramona died on September 10, 2022 surrounded by her three surviving children Rita, Christina and David. She died of complications from emergency neurosurgery. Ramona was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, David, and her daughter Linda Fig, 9 siblings: Simon, Jenny, Mary, Nacho, Rito, Lolo, Lucy, Jesse and Frank, and many friends. Ramona was born on August 27, 1929 in Culver City, CA. Her parents, Francisco Rodriguez and Wencelada Becerra migrated from Guanajuato, Mexico sometime around 1914 during the Mexican Revolution to escape social and economic instability. Ramona spent her early years in South El Monte on her family's farm, and in the summer she would travel with her family through the Salinas Valley as farmworkers. She eventually married David Escamilla Perez and they settled in El Monte to start a family. Ramona did not attend high school after graduating 8th grade from New Temple School, Valle Lindo School District in 1943. Instead she bent her many talents and lively nature to her work, her family, her hobbies and community. She worked as a cake decorator at Von's Bakery for over 40 years, where she was eventually selected for special training so that she could teach others to decorate cakes, something which she was always proud of. At age 87 she volunteered to teach cake decorating at the San Gabriel Valley Community Center in South El Monte. She knew some of the students attending her class were stay-at-home moms who couldn't afford to bake a cake for every class, so Ramona would have them practice on a box or a rectangle of foil in lieu of pretend cakes. As a proud Union member of Local 37 of the Bakery and Confectionery Workers, she had high expectations for her students, and she knew that she was imparting an important skill that would help her students earn extra money, or save them money when celebrating with their families. To say that Ramona left her footprint in her community is an understatement. As a faithful church congregant of Nativity Church for over 50 years, she sang in the choir. Her exquisitely crocheted blankets were raffled every Oktoberfest for at least 40 years. Her enthusiasm knew no bounds. At 89 she baked lasagna trays full of oatmeal cookies (a Ramona specialty) for volunteers during a 2018 Orange County congressional campaign, capping her feat by soloing with a mariachi band serenading those same volunteers. If you asked Ramona how she would describe herself, she would say: " I'm a happy person, a wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, a counselor, an artist; I love to read, sing and dance; I love people, I love to cook for people, I have wonderful neighbors and friends, and I've lived a beautiful, happy life."