Esperanza Estrada de Padilla

Esperanza Estrada de Padilla was born in Ciudad Guzman, Jalisco, Mexico, on October 23, 1938, to Eustacio Estrada and Teresa Ruvalcaba. She was the youngest of her nine siblings and her mother's fourteenth pregnancy; she will be the last to be laid to rest. Esperanza passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by her loving family on the evening of December 27, 2022.

Esperanza had a very happy childhood growing up in Ciudad Guzman. She often shared vivid memories about running around with her friends, how she once broke her arm, and on another occasion how she knocked out her front teeth. She and her friends frequently enjoyed eating ice cream and listening to music on the Victrola at the local ice cream shop.

In 1957, Esperanza was introduced to Jose de Jesus Padilla, by her brother Jose Estrada. They fell in love and got married in January of 1958. Together they had five children: Maria de Lourdes, Paul, Amparo, Anna and Martha. They raised their family in the home they bought in 1964, where Esperanza lived until the day of her passing.
Esperanza was a beautiful, loving, caring woman who was loved by all who knew her. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother; and a trusted friend to many. She loved and served the Lord, He blessed her with many gifts and talents that she used to serve Him and bless others with. She was a very generous and very industrious woman, always making sure the needs of others were met. She loved to sew and crochet, she even made her own draperies and curtains. She cooked creatively, often with her own homegrown vegetables. She was an avid gardener and got great satisfaction tending to her beautiful rose bushes and a variety of flowers. She even refinished the oak wood floors in her home! She was a busy woman who was not afraid to work hard or to take on a new and challenging project. If she did not know how to do something, she simply got a book and learned how to do it; and somehow always made it look easy. She planned her days and did what she set her mind to do; certainly a woman to be admired.

Esperanza Estrada de Padilla truly lived the life of a virtuous woman, as described in the Bible, in Proverbs 31:10-31. She will be greatly missed by her husband Jose de Jesus, her five children, sixteen grandchildren, and twenty-eight great-grandchildren. She will live on forever in our hearts.

Descansa en paz, Esperancita