Cora A. Lizarraga's Obituary
Cora A. Lizarraga was born Maria Socorro Alvarado on June 25, 1929 in Douglas, Arizona to Maria Jesus Cervantes Alvarado and Evaristo (Joe) Alvarado. She was one of ten children.
Happy childhood years were spent in Douglas and in Bakersfield, California with her beloved parents and siblings: Connie (deceased), Eduviges (deceased), Ralph (deceased), Manuel (deceased), Mauro (deceased), Bertha, Robert, Lucy, and Tessie.
Although she had early ambitions of entering a convent, on August 15, 1953 she married Antonio (Tony) Lizarraga in Bakersfield, California and moved to Tony’s hometown of Morenci, Arizona where the couple raised four children: Barbara, Anthony, Cynthia, and Darlene. Her life’s sole priority was raising her children. Her greatest joy was in their abilities and accomplishments.
After her husband’s retirement in 1985, the couple moved from Morenci to Safford, Arizona.
Cora devoted much time to helping and caring for elderly friends and relatives. Always a compassionate person, she offered to do as much as possible for anyone who needed it.
Cheerful in all tasks, Cora never shirked an obligation, never complained, was ever compassionate and ever willing to do for others to the point of ignoring her own needs and discomforts. Her wish was to be busy, useful, and helpful.
After her husband died in 2003, she lived the last phase of her life in Tucson, Arizona. She enjoyed one-on-one visits with family and friends, seeing her great-grand children, watching Diamondbacks baseball, going to the movies, travelling occasionally, eating junk food and anything covered in chocolate. She strove never to miss a day of mass when she could help it, sometimes walking a two-mile round trip to the church for the added bonus of exercise. Blessed with good health well into her 80s, she was energetic and free of chronic or serious health issues.
Cora is survived by four siblings living in California, three of her four children, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
On November 16, 2016, Cora died as she had lived – quietly, never complaining. She will be missed and remembered for her tenacity, generosity, forgiveness, compassion, and dignity. She was 87.
A memorial mass is scheduled for Wednesday, November 30 at 10:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 601 E. Fort Lowell Avenue in Tucson.
A funeral mass and interment of ashes will be on December 30 in Bakersfield, California.
The family requests, in lieu of flowers, cash donations be made in Cora’s memory to Casa de la Luz Foundation, 7740 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ 85704.
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