Laura Munoz Marquez

Laura was born on June 15, 1957, to Edward & Maria Marquez. She is survived by her Mother, Maria, her sisters Olga, Monica, Evon, Faith, and her brother Felix Marquez, her daughters Cristina & Roxanne Gonzalez, and two Grandchildren, Brooklyn and Mason, ten nieces and nephews and their families.

She was born in Santa Monica, CA. The family then moved to Hawthorne, CA for a time, and then to Lawndale, CA where she lived until she graduated from Leuzinger High School. She then got married and divorced twice and was blessed with two beautiful daughters. She resided in San Pedro where her daughter’s were raised. Life happened, she faced and overcame challenges and lived out the rest of her life in Palmdale, CA.

She was gainfully employed at Maxi care, TRW, Ralphs, Target, then became disabled.

She had two successful hip replacement surgeries, became “the jogging lady” in the city of Palmdale for a few years, then slowed down to “the walking lady”, and then was just happy to be able to get up every new day and enjoy life, family, and friends, good food, sweets with her coffee, and Blue Bunny ice cream. She adored her daughters and grandchildren, and Honey, her cat. Brooklyn was her “Princess” and Mason was her “Little Man”. She was so proud of all of them. She lived for her daughters’ visits, getting to see her grandchildren, and for when she was planning to go spend time with them in San Pedro. Laura also enjoyed hangouts with her siblings, movie nights at her brother Felix’s house, and coffee time with her favorite muffins, with her sisters at Evon’s house, which she’d like to call themselves the “Golden Girls”.

She strived to, and successfully, stayed sober for the last 8 years. In doing so she proved on more than one occasion that she had taken control of her life and handled challenges with a finesse that we were so impressed with. All this was encouraged by the fact that her daughters considered her first sober day, February 1, and every year made her feel so important, accomplished, and worthy of her new life/sobriety celebration.

Unfortunately, she became ill in November. It was thought to be “just a bad cold”, which was then diagnosed as pneumonia in late January, and later discovered to be cancer that had already spread to her lungs by the time it was detected. She was in the hospital for a week before she passed. The doctors made the diagnosis and then informed us that she was too weak to survive chemo. We were waiting until we had the prognosis to notify extended family & friends of her condition. Sadly, we didn't have the time we thought we’d have to get the word out for people to come and see her before she left us.

She passed peacefully on February 15, with visits by her daughters and her sister Evon ever vigilant at her side, making sure to let her know she was not alone and telling her how much we all loved her.

We will miss her very much. We appreciate everyone’s prayers for peace and strength, and the loving thoughts and kind words.