CELIA RODRIGUEZ's Obituary
On September 12, 2016, Celia Rodriguez passed away at the age of 97 in Miami, Florida.
She was born Manuela Celia Rodriguez Gomez on July 10th in Guatemala to parents Maria Del Pilar Gomez and Ramon Rodriguez De Paz. She had five siblings: Miguel Angel, Marco Antonio, and surviving sisters Maria Teresa & Magdalena.
Growing up in Guatemala City, she always had a knack for art and was very talented. Celia would often spend hours helping her mother to sew and embroider traditional Guatemalan dresses for special occasions. Later, Celia’s first job would be sewing buttons for one penny per button.
While in school, Celia was introduced to Alfonso Solis Figueroa through a mutual friend. On one of their dates, they went for a romantic ride on Alfonso’s motorcycle. Her chaperone for the date was her brother, Antonio, which meant, Celia was forced to ride in the motorcycle’s sidecar. The trio hit a bump and went off road resulting in scraped knees and scratches. That kind of dangerous excitement led to the couple falling in love and they were later married on July 9, 1942 in La Iglesia de la Merced in Guatemala City. They had two sons, Oscar Rolando & Alfonso Rene Solis.
She loved the arts so much, she studied Embroidery at Academia de Bellas Artes Guatemala and became a teacher. She specialized in Home Economics and taught at an all-girl school in the Guatemala Public School System. Years later, she decided to work with adults and taught ceramics, embroidery, and flower arranging during evening classes at Universidad Popular De Guatemala. She retired from the school system in 1965.
Having a mom who teaches cooking classes is not a bad deal – her son remembers being able to sample from all the dishes at dinnertime.
“Since she taught cooking, dinner time was always the best because she really knew her way around the kitchen. I can still remember her cooking her famous enchiladas, fiambre, tamales and traditional desserts,” said her son Alfonso.
In 1956, with the help of her sister Maria Teresa and her husband, Marco Tulio Solis Figueroa (yes, 2 brothers married to 2 sisters), Celia and Alfonso Rene, came to the U.S., later joined by Oscar. They lived in Holyoke Mass. - one big family, Marco, Tere, their 2 sons Kenny and Wayne. The winters were beautiful, the white snow, nothing like playing in the snow. The blizzards however were a different story, so they headed south to Miami. Then it was back and forth to Guatemala. In 1966, she decided to make Miami her permanent home.
While in Miami, she worked and studied English and Ceramics. She studied painting in the evenings. Her favorite things to paint on canvas were beautiful landscapes, flowers and birds. Her apartment was often filled with paintings depicting scenes from Guatemala, the beach and tropical gardens. In 2015, three of her paintings were featured in a calendar.
One of her muses was her longtime companion, a green parrot named Snoopy. He was always quick to give her artistic advice and more.
On November 13, 1995, she was very excited to become a US Citizen.
Celia is survived by: Her sons Oscar and Alfonso.
Favorite flower: roses
Favorite poem “El Poema De Las Rosas” por Osmundo Arriola
The last verse …..
“Yo quisiera haber tomado
de esa vida, pocas horas,
ignorer de la existencia
las promesas ilusorias
que se esfuman de la nada,
y vivir como las rosas
una vida de ilusiones,
momentanea…. Pero hermosas….!
Y en la tarde, ante el crepusculo,
Deshacerme en una estrofa,
Como lo hacen las cabezas
pensativas de las rosas…..! “
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