Our beloved Nana Esiquia was born November 12, 1917, on a ranch in El Maquipo, Sonora, México. Her parents were Carlota García and Octaviano Rodríguez.  The oldest of three children, Esiquia lived with her mother and siblings, Eduardo and Modesta in La Quintera.  Walking home from work at the age of eighteen, Esiquia Garcia met Miguel Adrian Valenzuela in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.  They soon married in 1937 and had eleven children.  Together they immigrated to the United States with dreams of better lives for their growing family.  Nana was intelligent, tough, and hard-working.  She was a great mother and her life was about taking care of everyone else.  She was loving, cariñosa, and always content with the life God gave her.  Nana loved to cook and be surrounded by family.  She passed peacefully in her sleep, two weeks after celebrating her ninety-ninth birthday.  She was predeceased by her husband, twin sons – Oscar and René Valenzuela, and three grandchildren – Jesse Arias, Michael Valenzuela, and Arturo Valenzuela.  She is survived by her children – Enrique, Octavio, Rigoberto, Graciela, Ana María, Adrian, Ismael, Carlota, Gabriel, fifty grandchildren, ninety-five great grandchildren, and nineteen great-great grandchildren.  She will forever be in our hearts.

(1917 – 2016)