RIP Beloved Fairfax Nanny Guadalupe

Dear friends, On Christmas Day 2017, our dear, beloved Guadalupe Espinoza - mother, wife, and cherished caregiver to many children in Fairfax, Marin County - died in her sleep.  She was just 42 years old.  Her untimely death leaves us saddened and stunned, confused at how someone who was so healthy and alive could be with us one moment and is now gone.

Guadalupe came to the United States as a teenager from a small town in Michoacán, Mexico.  She and her devoted husband Luis raised two children in Richmond, California.  They had recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.  Guadalupe’s children were her pride and joy and she had much to be proud of.   Her daughter Lupita just graduated from college last May with a degree in psychology and is working in education.  Her son Luis is in his first year at the University of California at Merced on a full scholarship and is studying computer engineering.  

Guadalupe deeply loved children.  For the last decade or so, she worked as a nanny for various families in Marin County, especially in Fairfax.  She joined our family in August 2016 and was a blessing to us in so many ways.  She held our children, Owen and Fiona, so deeply in her heart, as she did all the children she cared for over the years; she called them her angelitos, her little angels.  

Guadalupe was truly one of the most gentle, kind,  giving, and patient people I have ever met.  She had so much wisdom to share and taught me many life lessons.  We loved to listen to her stories about her childhood in rural Mexico, especially about her baths in the river with biting turtles!  I am devastated to have lost my dear friend and I will never forget her.  Her untimely death at a time in her life when she had achieved so much and had so much to look forward to feels like a cruel injustice in this world. 

We ask for your support to help ease some of the burden that her death will mean for this lovely family.  Besides the unexpected funeral expenses, including needing to buy last minute tickets to Mexico for her children because Guadalupe died in her home town while visiting her mother, this family will also face the loss of her income.  If there is anything, however small or large, that you can give to help them, please do.  

All proceeds will go directly to her family.  Her family has not asked us to do this but there are so many people in our Fairfax community and beyond that want to help her family that we wanted to provide a way to do that.  If you are on social media, please do feel free to share this link.

Rest in peace, sweet Guadalupe.  May your memory and spirt be a blessing to this world.