Maria Socorro Gonzalez

Maria Socorro Gonzalez, affectionately known as "Choco" was tragically taken away from her loving family on Friday, June 14, 2019.  She is survived by her beloved husband of 22 years, Julio R. Gonzalez; mother, Maria Del Socorro Coronado; brother, Juan Antonio Coronado (Brucely); nieces and nephews, Rosalie Coronado, Heaven Coronado, Cassandra B. Gonzalez, Benjamin X. Gonzalez and Phillip E. Gonzalez; mother in-law, Lupita Gonzalez; brother in-law, Dagoberto J. Gonzalez (Fernanda); sister in-law, Kismet Flores (Chris); as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins, Godchildren and many, many friends.  Preceded in death by her father, Roberto Coronado and her father in-law, Julio S. Gonzalez.  

Choco was driving to her father's funeral service when a distracted driver crossed the median and collided with her vehicle.  Her life was taken away by the careless act of texting while driving.  Her family would like to prevent this from occurring to anyone else because it's a huge loss for them.  She was a caring and loving person who always thought of others.  She had a heart of gold and will be terribly missed.  They encourage you to please not use your cell phones while driving in memory of their precious Choco.

Good morning to everyone. I would like to begin with my beloved wife’s own words written back on August 6th 1995 at 10:58 PM

"THE BIG DAY"

The big day came to stay, today a great love begins with great happiness, a man and a woman have united as one person.

That great day is August 5, 1995, when that couple has joined. He and she will never separate, because they have been joined by an uncontrollable force called love.

Love, Love such a great word, that many people have destroyed with wars and violence. Love is peace, caring for others and the main thing here is when a man and a woman love each other.

We must always use the verb love, I love, you love and we all love, is the key word for the happiness of humanity.

The big day! What happiness! A day so special for me and for him, that it never finishes.

"Finishing" is such a sad word, because it is the end of something that was created with a lot of effort, depending on each situation, but for a lover it’s a terrible word that will cause suffering.

Suffering, Suffering! What a pain! Let’s not mention this word, it is better to use! Happiness, such happiness! This is a great day my God, I have had with my great love.

She was a loving daughter, a sister, a cousin, an aunt, a girlfriend, a wife, a daughter-in-law, a godmother and a friend, She went by a multitude of names. To some she was Mija, Niña, María, Mary, María del Socorro, Socorrito, Coyito, Coyo. Coyis, Godmom, My Gordita, Gordis, Nicolasa de la Taza, Maria Que Punteria, La Robertita, La Chocs, La Chocolin, La Choquis, Choco-laydo, Choco-Landia, Tia ChiChoco, Baby or My Baby. But the name that stuck was always affectionately Choco. “Choco” a nickname she invented for herself and that’s the one that stuck. It’s that enduring loving name all of us came to know her by.

Our dear beloved Choco left this world last Friday, June 14th suddenly taken from all her loved ones. And I consider myself plenty blessed to have shared about 25 years with her; 22 of those being married to her. If I may I want to reflect on her life, for a moment and I will get back to the action that took her away for now.

She loved her dad Don Roberto and her Mom Dona Socorro goes without saying, she loved her brother Juan, loved her sister-in-law Brucely and she adored and loved her nieces Rosalie and also goddaughter Heaven. She loved my Dad Julio and she loved my Mom Lupita. She loved my sister Kismet and loved her brother in law Chris, she loved my brother Dago and loved Ferny her sister in law and again she adored / loved their boys, the kids, and Godchildren Benji and Phillip. And she loved their only girl her chipilona and Goddaughter Cassy.

She had a tremendous love for all her aunts and uncles, cousins on all family’s sides. A great “Comadre” And as many knew she was a great awesome friend. But she leaned more toward the kids of the family and those of friends. As we did not have children of our own, although we wanted some, but we thank God, we had an abundance of nieces, nieces, and kids of friends like her Ramocito “My Little Mouse” as she put it. And these kids of her cousins, my cousins, her aunts and uncles, even kids from friends of work would sooner or later become her Godchildren. She had a kind big heart and she loved to take their photos, pose them so she could do these elaborate professional looking pictures she would give them to have. She loved arranging and making wedding or quincianera photos, or making cards for special occasions such as birthdays, graduations or bachelorette parties. She got great at making her own graphic designs.

She talked she was a calm little girl growing up, Quiet, shy and studious. She talked proudly she was a member of an all-girl marching band, the first at her school El Cetis in Nogales Sonora Mexico. But she said they were so few and could not be heard because of the other bands playing, they simply just marched. Laughing she said hey it’s got to count for something. She was also a great technician; many times she helped me by working on computers, outside of work, of family and friends, so good that sometimes I would ask her how the programs worked.

She was a poet as many of you saw with some of her work out on display. I will be turning to those letters to bring me comfort for the long road ahead. She loved to express emotion in her work, so it was not a surprise she was a romantic at heart. She cried at videos or movies or if the stories or the situation was so that you would turn around and you would see her crying and she would then giggle because you were looking at her.

Our Choco loved to watch soccer games on TV and she loved to talk the ins and outs, the stats, the players, scoring, who was on odds to win the World Cup games (honestly I wasn’t a big fan of soccer and the world cup but, she made me enjoy it, because she loved it). She loved to watch YouTube videos namely a program Badabum seeking unfaithful partners roughy translated (I wasn’t really a big fan but you know what I got to tell you; I am still not a fan, sorry Babe you never convinced me).

She loved her musical artists and as anyone that knew her, Juan Gabriel and Selena were at the top of that list; she was a devoted fan. She cried and grieved when both of those artists passed away. As we were remembering her fondly this week we light heartily were thinking and we commented - She likely has those two poor people tired asking them for another request of their songs over and over again.

She loved to draw her little flowers on Birthday cards and she loved her sunflowers, Tweety Bird, Chocolate Kisses, her collection of National Geographic books, dolls (porcelain or plastic) and the color Burgundy. The last several months she took delight in getting new outfits that she enjoyed because she had lost a lot of weight.

We will miss her Lentel soup with bacon, Potato cheese soup w/chile verde, her quesadillas, white rice with tempura chicken and homemade dipping sauce she invented, chicken mole w/ tomatoe rice & cilantro, and Spaghetti Lasagna which we call Spaghetti Julio for my dad. We will miss her pineapple upside down cakes, lemon bars, tres leches cake. And she loved and made a mean tasty Michelada if anyone was fortunate to have tried those.

She was very picky; everything needed to match, to gel, if not she would let you know. Her favorite line was – Its good BUT emphasis on the but part. Believe me it took a while for me to sit down and get the correct pictures and music because I know how she was.

This beautiful woman was my soulmate. My better half. My joys were hers to enjoy, her triumphs were mine to be proud and inspired by, my pains were hers to endure, her heartbreaks were my sufferings, we laughed, we cried and we loved. We saw each other’s highs and enjoyed those many memories created. And unfortunately we now have seen each other at our worst.

She had such a kind heart and loving personality and that’s what hurts those who knew her and also the community who did not because not only on how she passed away but the circumstances. She was simply going to say her last goodbyes to her Dad last week. Just a mere 2 minutes away; less than a mile away. Nothing out of the ordinary no indications of anything wrong. Again we are upset and angry on the action that took her life. Simply because whatever it was a text, or a call, tweet, message, etc. was so important that it had to be done at that time.

Being such a wonderful and beautiful and loving soul that is why it’s hard, it is not right, it’s not fair but, I have my faith in God, I have her love giving me strength, and I have the support of my tremendous family those by my side; close and abroad, dear valued friends, loving neighbors, cherished friends from work and precious friends of those I worked with, beloved friends of churches near and far. Even kind strangers because her tragedy; it is not just confined to us exclusively. This is something that anyone can experience.

I am praying and turning this tragedy and giving more value to her life so her death means something. That her sudden departure will be changing minds, changing habits, enlightening the brain to stop and think is it worth it. Many have vowed and said no more Julio I will not do it this, it hit to close to home, pledges are being made

My brother mentioned he overheard two teenage kids talking about the incident a day ago, they were commenting amongst themselves saying being on the phone was not worth it. So maybe our dear Choco seeds are being planted, second guesses are forming, there are pauses/reflections on the situation, perhaps is sinking in. No family should be going through this and I also am including on either side of this tragedy. Had the stupid action not been taken, then none of us, would be going through this. Had that decision not been made, then both cars would have passed each other and gone on, each with their own lives. Hopefully Baby this cruel harsh reminder will stop many more tragedies from happening.

On behalf of the Coronado and Gonzalez families, allow me to thank all of you for giving us that strength we need, those prayers for the difficult days and for those that still remain to walk. The spirit of the Choco is now part of you and always will be. I appreciate the enormous amount of love and support you have given us. And we hope that when you drive and think to open that cell phone that the message, think of her, think of us, think of this celebration for her. That maybe what we are all going through this day stops you from trying to reach for the cell phone while driving. God bless you all. And thank you.