OBITUARY: Mary Helen Vazquez

Mary Helen Vazquez was born on Sept. 6, 1940 in the Mexican Colony of Shafter to parents Pastor Vazquez and Maria Torres Vazquez. Mary Helen was a beloved and loving mother, daughter, sister and grandmother. She first drew breath and gave a loud cry at her birth, pronouncing her presence as the last-born child to a large Mexican-American family who had emigrated and were forming a new life for themselves in the United States.

Helen was a fiercely proud American who completed high school in Shafter, earned her certificate at beauty school in Bakersfield, and journeyed to Los Angeles when she was 25 years old with her sister, Adriana. She did hair for many years in downtown LA, made friends and enjoyed city life. She and her sister Licha took pleasure trips to Acapulco, Mexico City and New York.

In her 30s, she gave birth to her two daughters, Angel and Nicole, and raised them as a single mother. Later in life, she worked as an information referral specialist for the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging. She retired and moved back home to Shafter on the property where she was raised and spent the last decade of her life there. Helen spent her final days surrounded by family in Sacramento. She entered eternal life on March 23, 2021.

Helen is survived by her beloved daughter, Nicole Vazquez; her grandson, Michael Anthony Rovelli; and her nephew, Stephan Vazquez Carrillo. Helen is preceded in death by her daughter, Delfina Angel Jennette, and her 11 brothers and sisters: Anthony, David "Chano," Esther, Armando, Nicolaza, Mary Louise "Licha," Pastor, Baby Delfina, Angel "Jules," Adriana and Baby Angel Jesus.

As the last surviving sibling of her generation, she goes to our eternal Father surrounded by her family, to a rose-decorated seat at the banquet of paradise. May Helen rest in peace, knowing that she will always be loved for the beautiful, strong, independent woman she always was.