Angie Portugal

We would have celebrated my Mom’s 94th birthday on May 28th. Many of you knew my mom well, but for those who didn’t, I’d like to briefly share some of her life story.

My mom, Angie, was born in Los Angeles in 1932 to her parents, Magdalena and Ventura Madrigal, at the Madrigal family home. She had a large family with two older brothers, Louis and Van, an older sister, Josie, and two younger brothers, Rudy and Henry.

Tragically my mom’s mother died when my mom was only six years old. From that point on, she was raised by her father and older siblings, and when she was old enough, she helped care for and raise her younger brothers. I’m sure that experience helped shape the strong, caring, compassionate and responsible mom that she became.

After graduating high school, my mom attended nursing school and worked in a Los Angeles hospital assisting with surgeries. During that time, she reconnected with a family friend, my dad Gilbert at a wedding. They shared a dance, started dating, and were married the following year in November of 1955.

Together they built a life centered around faith, family, and hard work. They had four children: Magdalena, who we call Nena, Monica, myself, Gilbert, and Greg.

In 1969, my mom and dad bought their house in Lakewood where they raised all of us. Many of my memories of home are really memories of my mom — her presence, her caring, her love, and all the sacrifices we didn’t fully appreciate at the time.

My mom later worked as a clerk at the nearby SavOn drugstore. But even while working and helping support our family, she never stopped being a mom first. We kids were still young then, and every day during her lunch break she would walk about a mile home just to check on us and make sure everything was okay before walking a mile back to work.

She retired in 1997 and was finally able to spend more time relaxing and enjoying her family. But we all know, a mother’s work is never really done.

Her encouragement gave us the confidence to succeed, and she continued to be encouraging and helped us all as we navigated adulthood, married life, and being parents ourselves.

There were so many things our mom Angie taught us but looking back for me personally, one of the greatest gifts my mom gave me was a belief in God. She prayed faithfully and made sure we went to church every Sunday helping to build and reinforce my spiritual foundation. I used to ask her if she prayed for us kids and she said she did every night. She modeled her faith by the way she lived, with quiet strength, faithfulness, perseverance, and her love for my dad and her family.

Unfortunately, a few years ago after my dad passed, our mom started to show the effects of some serious physical and mental health issues. It became harder and harder for her to communicate with everyone as she told us she couldn’t think of the words she wanted to say and couldn’t get them out. Her condition continued to get worse and she has had no good quality of life for some time now. It was clear she was suffering and sadly time for her to go home with our Lord.

I know my mom was a good person, but Jesus told us “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”. I have prayed with my mom, even in the last few weeks asking her if she accepted Jesus as her savior. She said yes. I told her then she gets the golden ticket and she gets to go to Heaven.

I know that Christ conquered death, and death is just a portal to everlasting life, and that our mom has gone home to be with Jesus, but it still hurts to lose her from our physical presence.

Mom, thank you for everything you gave to your family. Thank you for your sacrifices, your prayers, your love, and your example.

I pray my faith and all of our faith in Jesus stays strong and we all look forward to seeing my mom again in heaven.

We love you, Mom.