Remembering Rosaura Bernal de Verdugo - Duran

Raising money to provide our grandmother, Rosura "Rosa" Bernal, a proper grave marker for her final resting place in Santa Fe Spring, CA (previously known as Los Nietos). For whatever reason, a grave marker was never placed on her grave. She suffered & scarified so much in life and I wanted to make sure that her final resting place was not an unmarked grave.

Rosaura Bernal (Verdugo / Duran) Biography

Rosaura "Rosa" Bernal was born on November 20, 1894 to Tiburcio Bernal & Josepha Mendibles. She grew up in Boyle Heights, outside downtown Los Angeles, a predominantly Mexican neighborhood. In 1904, her parents separated, so Rosa and her sisters (Nypha, Clara and Clementina) were put into the Los Angeles Orphan Asylum. The girls were considered "half orphans". The only way that they could get out of the Asylum was to get married. Rosa met & fell in love with Pedro "Pete" Verdugo at the age of 16. They were married in Los Angeles, CA on Nov 22, 1910. Pete was 19 years old.

Rosa & Pete started life together and had 2 children, Bernardino "Barney" Patricio & Mary Besalina "Bessie" Verdugo. Sadly Rosa's life was upended when her husband died in 1917 at the age of 25 from complications of a tumor on his liver. She was left a widow with two young children at 22.

Rosa's sister in law, Barbara Duran Verdugo, introduced Rosaura to her brother, Manuel Duran. They were married in 1921. They had a total of six children, two of the children died before their 1st birthday. The surviving children were Vera, Manuel, Mary & Esther.

The Great Depression was in full swing and the young family had to move to Northern California to Contra Costa County (near Stockton) for work. Sadly, Manuel Duran (Sr) abandoned the family in 1931. Rosaura and the children moved back down to Los Angeles, CA to live with her father.

On Mar 29, 1938, Rosaura died of heart defect. She was 43 years old. Her husband returned to the family and had Rosaura buried at Paradise Memorial Park in Los Nietos, CA.

Somehow, the family lost track of Rosa. The family heard little of her life or where she went. There were stories, but no solid leads. It's taken me almost 8 years to piece together a bit of her story and find her final resting place.

Paradise Memorial Park

The cemetery is now defunct and it was taken over by the state due to mismanagement. A local non-profit is over-seeing the cemetery. Many of the older graves in the cemetery had been re-sold after being emptied out. Miraculously, our grandmother escaped this fate and is still in the original spot. I hope that we are able to provide her with a simple & dignified grave marker for her final resting place.

Thank you for your time!