Gilroy resident
Ernestina Reyes Banuelos died Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2002 in San Jose after a lengthy illness. She was 70.
Mrs. Banuelos was born and raised in Westmoreland of the Imperial Valley. At a young age she put her education aside to raise her siblings and care for her father. In 1950 her family settled in Gilroy after working for many years as migrant farm workers.
She worked as a nurse’s aide at Wheeler Hospital and as a line worker at Gentry’s. She later returned to school to become a teacher’s aide and in 1971 she began a 28-year career with the Gilroy Unified School District as an adult education aide, Title VII aide, and as a school/community liaison at many schools and the OASIS Independent Study Center.
She was a long-time member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Gilroy, where she taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes. She was a Cub Scout den mother, served on numerous committees for the school district and community and was a member of the Latina Coalition. She loved reading, gardening and cooking.
She is survived by her son and his wife, Richard and Suzy Banuelos of Gilroy; her sister, Mary Reyes Garza of Watsonville; two grandchildren, two aunts and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Luis Banuelos, her father, Refugio C. Reyes, and her brothers, Refugio Reyes, Jr., Crespin Reyes and Phillip M. Reyes.
A Vigil service will be held Monday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. at Habing Family Funeral Home in Gilroy. Funeral services will begin Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. at the funeral home, proceeding to St. Mary Church for a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at St. Mary Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Ernestina Banuelos Memorial Scholarship Fund at Washington Mutual in Gilroy or to the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara Valley, in San Jose.
