Gertrude M Escudero

Passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Saturday, April 15, 2023. A resident of Wilmington, CA for the past 54 years she was originally from the great state of New Mexico. Born on August 8, 1936, in a small town called Las Vegas, NM, she was the youngest and last surviving of 9 siblings. Her sense of adventure would take her to Santa Fe, NM. Upon the death of her mother, she would brave out into the world on her own where many early adulthood journeys begin.

It was in Santa Fe where she would meet her husband Rudy G. Escudero. They both worked for a hospital in Santa Fe. He managed to convince her to travel with him to California where he had a sister living with her four children and husband. They would embark on this journey and marry in Las Vegas, NV on their way to California. Once they arrived in California, they stayed in the South Bay area while planning on starting a family and looking for a home to settle in. She would let her niece Jeanette Montoya come and stay for some respite from her three brothers Fred, Dennis and Gene Montoya. During this period, she became quite ill and as fate would have it she would require a full hysterectomy meaning there would be no natural children. She was resilient and the universe would grant this loving couple a child in March of 1973. It was a slow and steady process but they were able to adopt a little girl of 3 months born in Los Angeles, CA who they would call Cynthia Lynn Escudero. When she tells this story she always remarks on how nervous she was receiving the child so while she excused herself to the restroom her husband had the first opportunity to hold this new child. That bond would form between the three of them so strong that not even death could sever it. In those early years, she took great joy in raising that little girl and preparing her for her schooling. This was her gift. The ability to teach children easily and give them the patience they required to learn no matter how hard the subject matter was. She would go on to work in her daughter’s pre-school to stay close and keep a watchful eye on her. This lead her in the direction of early childhood development where she took courses at Los Angeles Harbor College. After several years of working for pre-schools she decided she wanted to open a family day care in her home. She would go on to open and run this successful business for 15 years before she eventually retired after the death of her husband in 1996. In 1984, she would be blessed again with a great niece named Elizabeth Shrader (Aguilar) who she helped raise alongside her daughter and during her home day care years. This bond would also prove incredibly strong. So many children came and went over the years but she would keep in contact with a few families over that span of time and watch from a distance as life would take them into their own adult family journeys. Through it all she held tight to her faith and family and when it was time for her to become a grandmother she jumped into that role with such ease and joy. She helped her daughter raise those two children Lynnette Escudero and Rudolfo Rubio well into adulthood. It was a gift for her to be there for all of it. She loved to take long drives going nowhere and if you asked her if she wanted to go literally anywhere she would grab her purse or her suitcase as the occasion called for it and be the first one in the car. She loved shopping with her daughter, niece and granddaughter. In her later years when she started to become more frail and needed more assistance with daily living she was afforded the opportunity to remain in her home and although she could no longer drive she would still get to run around town with her daughter or granddaughter and her niece. She had built up these three women with every part of her and in the end it was these three women who guided her to our Lord on that sorrowful Saturday in Spring. We are grateful for the time we were given and we are thankful she is now at peace and no longer suffering. Her journey was filled with much sickness but she endured and it forged her strength and made her the strong matriarch she was. We are reminded that in the end everything that was done was done in love and service to the great person she was for those she raised.