Help Us Lay My Mother to Rest: Untimely Death Due to Cancer

It pains my heart to be here on this platform again, so soon… because of a disease that has taken so much away from our family—on Wednesday, January 8th, our mother Alma Duarte Leon, died of lung cancer. She lived a healthy lifestyle, and it shocked our family to lose her to a disease we found out she had only 2 months before we lost her; she was only 58. Two weeks before our mother Alma passed away, our Aunt Faviola, our mothers sister, was recently laid to rest, also because of Cancer…

It’s hard to remember the good times, and celebrate the lives of our beautiful mother and Tia with loving memory during our grief, when a disease as terrible as cancer withered and deteriorated their bodies, mind, spirit, and life completely. Each moment we spent with our mother and aunt, until the last breath they drew, our family treasures in our hearts forever. While those memories are also very painful, because of all the pain our loved ones endured, they are also very special, and timeless… our family deeply misses and grieves our losses… our beautiful Angels who made our house a home; who united our family with their unwavering love; who were strong women who led our family forward to a future that had hope, joy, faith, and love.

In honor of our mothers memory, we honor her life by remembering and practicing the same teachings, philosophy, and resilience she taught us DAILY. Everyday, our mother taught us by example what true strength was; everyday, our mother talked to us about the importance of placing our faith in God; she was a magnificent woman and warrior of God.

Alma was a beautiful and graceful woman who enjoyed life and always praised God for allowing her to experience motherhood, being a grandmother, and allowing her to see beautiful sunsets and earths natural beauties. I love her and miss her deeply, everyday…

Apart from being a devoted mother, grandmother, and wife, Alma also was pursing an educational career to become a school teacher. She was almost finished with her General Ed classes she was taking at our community college, and was excited to transfer to University of California Riverside this year… Alma’s passion for child education comes from her experience of 15+ years working for the school district as a student aide for disabled students, and an educational aide in the classroom. Alma had a creative, playful, and joyful spirit and loved helping people.

️✨ Alma Duarte Leon ✨️

Our family deeply appreciates any support and donations to help pay for our mothers funeral and memorial. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you, thank you.

May God bless you and your loved ones.