Juanita V. Romero

Juanita “Jennie” V. Romero, 61, of Tucson, AZ, passed away on April 6, 2020 after a long battle with diabetes and Parkinson’s Disease.  Jennie was born on July 13, 1958 to Alberto Vasquez and Juanita (Moreno) Vasquez in Tucson, AZ. After graduating from Sunnyside High School in 1977, she went on to study elementary education at the University of Arizona.  After graduation, she landed her first job as a teacher for Hollinger Elementary in the Tucson Unified School District, where she worked until her retirement in 2010.  In 1979, she met, or was cursed to meet, as she would jokingly say, Enrique R. Romero at a wedding. After a brief, loving courtship of seven months they were engaged, and they wed on September 19, 1980. During her lifetime, she had the privilege of helping to raise her own biological children, her daughter Guadalupe V. Romero & her son Enrique V. Romero, as well as her younger siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews (Raquel V. Contreras, Alberto M. Vasquez, Tomas Guillen, Estrella (Guillen) Saldate), just to name a few. 

After her retirement due to her various health issues, Jennie spent her time looking after her rose bushes, crocheting, baking/decorating elaborate cakes, and looking after her grandchildren until 2014 when her health began to decline. As mentioned before, she helped raise her younger siblings and cousins, who have fond memories of Jennie being a strict caretaker. She had a good repertoire of firm discipline toward her very rambunctious brothers and cousins.  This is how she got her skill and beginnings as being the “strict, mean” teacher during her tenure at Hollinger, a reputation that her children can affirm from their brief time at the same elementary. (Not fun to be known as the meanest teacher’s child, just ask her daughter.) When Jennie married Enrique, they bought a house with a swimming pool, a very valuable commodity in Tucson’s hot summer months. With her occupation as a teacher, she was free during the summer to watch her children, nieces and nephews and all their friends, altogether raising aka monitoring between 10-20 kids daily. Many of these now-grown kids now share years of fond, fun memories of days at the Romero’s House with a pool.

Jennie was predeceased by her husband, parents and parents-in-law. They called her to join them in Heaven because they were tired of her husband's shenanigans. She is survived by her biological children and those “fostered” nieces and nephews listed above. Also, Jennie’s joys for living during her decline in health  include her seven grandchildren, Ethan, Mikayla, Axel, Gabriel, Annalisa, Edward and Eliana. After many years of fighting, may Jennie finally find her peace in her rest with the Lord. From the family to those who knew Jennie: we ask that you understand that during this time of difficulty, with a pandemic and norms of social distancing, services and burial can only have a very limited number of attendees. The family plans on having a celebration of life in the future.  Please let the family know if you will like to be notified.