Erlinda J. Barela

Our Beloved Mother

Mom was born on August 24, 1927 in Wheatland, Wyoming to Patricia Martinez and Milton Troncosa along with her siblings 1 sister Angelina, 4 brothers Bennie & the late Frank, John & Don.

Mom met the love of her life, our father, the Late Robert Barela. Upon his return from the service they were united in Marriage for the 2nd time on October 7th 1961. Shortly after, they started their family of 9 children, Patricia, Catherine , Frank, Sandra & Barbara, and the late Judith, John, Joseph and Robert Jr.

Mom and Dad were married for 35 years before daddy passed away at age 64.
Mom worked for the Dry Cleaners, Honeywell & in her later years she worked for Harrah's Casino, her favorite place to be win or lose. She also loved fishing/camping but Gambling was far more her favorite.

As her family grew she became a grandmother to: Denise, Deanna, Nancy, Juno, James, RJ, Louis Jr, Melissa, Damien, Rick, Gary, Jason, Lino, Valerie, Audra, Janine, Tina, Johnnie II.

Great Grandmother of:Kyle, Danika, Anthony, Robert III, Sean, Neysa, Doveena, Jason Jr, Zayne, Jeovanni, Cruz, Richard Jr, Dominic, Davian, Sianna, Carly, Davina, Jaia, LeiLani, Josiah, Jodeci, Breonna, Capri, Sadii, Naomi, Malaki, Donovan, Lino Jr, Vincent Jr, Evan, Nicholas, Ian and Benjamin. Great Great Grandmother:Quentin, Elano, Ezekiel

As she lost loved ones thru the years, there was always another one born to fill the void. All mom's nieces and nephews on her side and daddy's loved and respected her as well as anyone who had the chance to be a part of her life.
She leaves behind wonderful friends and neighbors; Viv was a long time friend and confidante. Also great friend and neighbor, Patty , who was there for mom without question, took care of her and visited anytime whether for conversation or some of moms wisdom, and we all knew Patty loved and respected mom and mom returned that same love and respect. Patty and her family were such a blessing to mom, always so willing to check up on her day or night, and did it out of love.

The downside to her life was losing her husband, three sons, a daughter, a grandson and a great granddaughter, but she kept the faith to carry on and be the strength we all needed to help each other get through the pain of each loss.
On October 29th we got the bad news of mom's illness which didn't take much time to take her from us, she was a fighter thru this, she kept her sense of humor up the the day before her passing, talked alot about all the money she won on her gambling sprees. We reminisced a lot about the good times. She told us about seeing our father and all our family we've lost thru the years and how happy they all were to see her, then we knew her time was near.
Mom had such a passion for life, she lived life to the fullest, she lived each day as if it were her last, loved with intensity and laughed with her every being, mom had the most beautiful smile. She also loved to travel; she went on an Alaskan fishing trip with the late Mary a dear friend of moms. Mom was an adventurous woman, her and dad visited places including Cabo San Lucas, Cozumel, Acapulco, and California as both mom and dad had family throughout that state, and of course many trips to Las Vegas because daddy also had a passion for gambling. One of mom's other great passions was fishing and camping, we as a family went on many camping & fishing trips through Colorado and Wyoming, not to mention the family poker games that would last throughout the night.

Mom also loved to dance, sing, loved Mexican music, spoke and wrote Spanish fluently which she learned at a very young age.

Talking about everything mom loved above all was her FAMILY, and we all knew mom loved each and everyone of us in her own individual way. Mom's love was tough, yet gentle, but most of all it was special and we did our best to return the love that she deserved. Love, Peace and Happiness is all she wanted of her family.

Her faith in the Lord GOD Almighty is what guided her through her journey of life.

We all know without mom's FAITH in GOD we may not have been able to enjoy her love, laughter and wisdom for 83 years GOD gave her.

Mom wasn't afraid to speak her mind, didn't hold back anything, she said what she thought, whether you liked it or not, you were going to hear it. As tiny as she was she held this family together, she was a strong, spunky, feisty little lady.

As you can see the legacy mom leaves behind. Anyone would be proud to be as blessed as mom.

All in All MOM was the Bees Knees, and had her own kind of BEAUTIFUL.
Thank You Lord for the time you gave us with our Mom, Grandmother, Great Grandmother and Great Great Grandmother.

If flowers grow in heaven, lord
Please pick a bunch from us
Place them in our Mothers arms
And tell her they're from us
Tell her that we love her
And when she turns to smile
Place a Kiss upon her cheek
And hold her for a while
Remembering her is easy
We do that every day
The pain within our empty hearts
will never go away.
We Love You Mom
The Clan
AMEN