Obituary: Service to Others Was Her Mission!

<figure id="attachment_23943" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23943" style="width: 211px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/stories/orbituary/obituary-service-to-othe…; rel="attachment wp-att-23943"><img loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-23943" alt="Rita Virginia Torres Valladolid 1915-2013" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Mom-David-DSC_0…; width="211" height="300"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-23943" class="wp-caption-text">Rita Virginia Torres Valladolid 1915-2013</figcaption></figure>
Beloved and adored Rita Valladolid was born in Chino, California on October 9, 1915 to Anita and Ysaias Torres. She was raised in Santa Paula, California and when she was seven years old her first sister Eleanor joined the family. Eleanor or “Aunt Baby” as she is known remained a loving and supportive partner/sister for her entire life!
A year after graduating from high school in 1935, she applied to and admitted into the Registered Nurse (RN) Program at St. Mary’s Hospital Teaching Program in San Francisco. Upon graduating in 1939 with her RN Degree, she returned to Fresno, California to be with her family and began working as a Nurse at St. Agnus Hospital.
Rita connected with the love of her life, Genaro Valladolid, when she was caring for his terminally ill sister, Maria, in her parent’s home. The Valladolid and Torres families knew each other prior to this experience, but after observing Rita care for his sister, Jerry fell in love with her. They would marry soon after and have five children (Ana, Jerry, David, Anthony and Magdalena). Tragically, 7-8 years after they were married, Jerry became very seriously ill with kidney problems that led to a heart attack, which took his life.
Rita, with family support, assumed the full care of her five children. Three years after her husband’s tragic death, again with help her family, she moved her children to San Diego. Upon arriving they rented a small one bedroom home in Mid-City for all her children including herself. She eventually found a job working with “Visiting Nurses Association” taking care of mostly elders who lived in their homes.
Rita’s life personified the powerful words of Cesar Chavez, “The ultimate purpose of an education is service to others!” During her entire work life she served people as a nurse and caretaker. Her last job would be at the San Ysidro Health Center when it was in its initial development stage. Rita was the first Director of Nursing and she implemented the “Visiting Nurse” principles when attending and caring for patients in their homes in San Ysidro. She loved her patients so much that she visited them on weekends to ensure they had food and the medicine they needed. Even after she retired, she continued for years to make house visits to attend to patients that needed her help.
In 1955, she bought her first home in San Diego in North Park where she raised her children and resided until her “Transition to Heaven” on August 29, 2013. Some of the neighbors in her community were initially a bit frustrated and distraught to have a Mexican family moving into North Park. But in time, she would win most of them over to accept her and her children.
As a devout Roman Catholic all her life, Rita also personified the incredible teachings of Jesus Christ that we should all “love our neighbors and treat others as we would want them to treat you”. Rita expressed unconditional love and concern for all whom she met and encountered in her community and in her work! Her most common advice to her children was “If you don’t have something good to say, it is better that you don’t say anything at all!”
Rita cherished and loved all of her immediate and extended family. To all her grand children she was “NANA” and to her nieces and nephews, she was called “NINA” or “God Mother”. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. Rita made an incredible impact on the world she inherited and left it a much better place than she found it!
Rita Virginia Torres Valladolid is survived by her five children; thirteen grand children; four great grand children; her sisters Eleanor Olvera, Anita, Teresita and brothers Hector and Ysaias and dozens of nieces and nephews and countless friends.
Thank you to all our family and friends for your expressions of love and condolences to Rita Valladolid’s Family!
MAY RITA VALLADOLID REST IN ETERNAL PEACE! SHE WILL BE PART OF OUR LIVES FOREVER AND WE THANK HER PROFUSELY FOR ALL HER GUIDANCE, SUPPORT AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!