Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Frances Maria Vallejo was born in 1956, to Margarita and John Vallejo, at White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. As a child, Frances was known as "Pancha" by her family. She learned responsibility at a young age, caring for her three younger brothers Johnny Jr., Robert and Joey. Frances was a good daughter and did whatever she could to help her parents. She was also a volunteer worker at the Mormon Temple. With a caring and giving nature, she dreamed of becoming a nurse one day. In high school, she was on the drill team and cheerleading squad. Frances graduated from Wilson High School. She went on to California State University at Los Angeles and earned her two-year A.A. degree. She continued volunteering at the Mormon Temple, while also volunteering at the hospital, with a goal of earning her R.N. degree. During her time at California State University at Los Angeles she met Jesus Alvarado through her best friend, Diane. The couple started dating and fell in love. Jesus nicknamed Frances "Beau," and the couple married on July 26, 1975. Her interest turned toward teaching children when she had children of her own.

Frances and Jesus welcomed three children into the world: Jesus Bimbo, Alvaro Jimbo, and Grasciella Kim. Frances was a wonderful mother. She was nurturing, loving and supportive while also being straightforward and honest. As the first born, Bimbo was a Bicentennial baby born in 1976. He developed a strong relationship with his mother, as he was an only child for many years. For Alvaro, Frances was very supportive, attending all of his baseball, football and basketball games at the park. She also encouraged his interest in biology, his artistic talents, his love of turtles, and his growing collection of Star Wars memorabilia. For Grasciella, Frances loved the fact that at a young age she too became involved in Cheerleading. In high school, Frances loved buying her dresses and always watched her volleyball games. For all of the children, she stressed good grades. Frances was so proud when Grasciella earned the Academic Jacket at Franklin High School with a 3.98 grade point average. As a parent, the kids could talk about anything with Frances.

There were many volunteer activities along the way and she often welcomed her family to join her in volunteering at carnivals at Griffith Park. After volunteering at the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks programs for many years, her talents were recognized by Director Sophia Cortez, who also became a good friend. Frances was quickly nicknamed "Bubbles" by co-workers for her energetic attitude. She was hired as a Recreation Assistant at Highland Park Recreation Center in 1994 and worked with children and the community for the next 14 years. She loved doing arts and crafts activities with the children and working as a Preschool teacher. Willing to learn new things, Frances read, researched and asked many questions about animals and nature so she could educate and share information with her students. Frances currently worked at Augustus F. Hawkins Natural Park. Her love of children carried over into her own family with the birth of Destiny, her niece, who she gave books and helped enroll in school. When her grandchildren were born two years ago, she was thrilled. She would bring the twins, Zyanya and Lyanna, learning toys and books, ready to share a world of love with them.

Thanksgiving was a special holiday for the family every year. Frances often baked a beautiful turkey for the entire family. At Christmas, she’d make dozens of delicious tamales and give them away to friends and family. For the 32nd wedding anniversary of Frances and Jesus last year, Alvaro took the entire family out for a lobster celebration. Once a month, Frances loved going out for Armenian food with Auntie Alba. She also enjoyed collecting mirrors and especially clocks and liked having all of her clocks in working order and on the right time. Frances was a modern mom and grandma with her love of songs by Tina Turner, Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, Carlos Santana, Mariah Carey, and Earth, Wind and Fire. She owned the first iPod in her family filling it with her favorite music, gospel songs, and sermons by Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyers.

During her life, Frances Alvarado was a caretaker, willing to help everyone. So much so, she chose to add a pink dot to her driver’s license as she made the choice to be an organ donor. With great understanding, she saw the good in all religions and believed that they all had something good to offer. Her purpose in life was to raise her children and help the many children in the parks system of Los Angeles. She was not judgmental and welcomed everyone into her life. The best part of her life was always family. Her dream was to see Grasciella graduate from college with a Mathematics degree to become a teacher and help the next generation, following in her footsteps. Her advice would be not to take anything or anyone for granted and appreciate what you have every day. Her family will miss her spontaneous nature, her sense of humor, her uplifting phone calls and her comforting presence.

Frances is loved by her entire family: her husband, Jesus; her son, Jesus Bimbo; her son, Alvaro Jimbo, and his wife Pam and their daughters, Zyanya and Lyanna; her daughter Grasciella Kim; her parents, Margarita and John and her niece Destiny; her brothers Johnny Jr. and his wife Alfeda; her brothers Robert and Joey; her many relatives, friends, co-workers and all of the children she taught and cared for over 14 years at numerous Recreation Centers for the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks. Frances Maria Alvarado was a wonderful daughter, a good sister who always tried to keep the family together, a loving wife and an incredible mother and grandmother. May she rest in peace.