1931 - 2003
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo, 72, of Aurora, IL passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2003 at Rush-Copley Medical Center. She was born January 16, 1931 in Puerto Rico.
Gina joins her beloved husband, Doroteo Arroyo, who preceded her in death October 19, 2002. Funeral services will be Friday, May 23, 2003 from 9:15 AM at The Daleiden Lake Street Mortuary to St. Therese Church at 10 AM with Fr. Joseph Muller, M.S.C. officiating. Interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, May 22, 2003 from 2 until 9 PM at The Daleiden Lake Street Mortuary, 220 N. Lake St., Aurora, IL, 60506. 630-898-8634. A complete obituary notice will appear in tomorrow's Beacon News. www.daleidenmortuary.com
***
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo
1931-2003
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo, 72, of Aurora died Tuesday, May 20, at Rush Copley Hospital. Born in Cagus, Puerto Rico, January 16, 1931 to Valentine and Pascuala (Nieve) Reyes.
Gina was a member of St. Therese Church. She retired from Aurora Women's Coat Factory where she was a seamstress. Gina was best known for her cooking. She cooked for thirty years at the Annual Puerto Rican Heritage Festivals. Wherever the line was the longest, that was where Gina Arroyos' food stand could be found. The door to Gina's home was never closed to anyone seeking shelter or a hot meal. There was always room for one more at her home and her dinner table.
Survivors include her children, Antonia Arroyo of Aurora, Lucy (George) Rosa of Puerto Rico, Jose (Valerie) Arroyo of North Aurora, William Arroyo of Aurora, Carmen Arroyo of Aurora and Armando Arroyo of Aurora; her brothers, Francisco Reyes of Puerto Rico and Roman Arroyo of Aurora; her grandchildren, Dempsey Jeffries III, Teneka Jeffries, Raymond Rosa, Margie Rosa and George Rosa Jr. and four great-grandchildren. Many nieces, nephews and friends survive.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Doroteo Arroyo; two sons, Antonio and Salvador Arroyo and her parents.
Funeral services will be held in Spanish on Friday, May 23, 2003 from 9:15 a.m. at THE DALEIDEN LAKE STREET MORTUARY to St. Therese Church at 10 a.m. Fr. Joseph Muller, M.S.C. will officiate with interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, May 22, 2003 from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at THE DALEIDEN LAKE STREET MORTUARY, 220 N. LAKE ST., AURORA, IL 60506. (630) 898-8634
www.daleidenmortuary.com
***
Gina Arroyo remembered for her sweet generosity
By Mary Ellen Moore STAFF WRITER Aurora Beacon News, Aurora IL
AURORA — Georgina Arroyo didn't measure ingredients by the cup.
The recipe for her famous "Pastel de Puerto Rico" calls for 15 pounds of pork, 5 pounds of white potatoes, 10 pounds of plantains and 5 pounds of lard.
Her standard arroz recipe yielded 5 pounds of rice.
Arroyo, a legend in Aurora for her Puerto Rican cuisine, was used to cooking for a crowd.
Whether it was a quinceanera, a summer festival or one of the many fund-raisers she and husband Doroteo held in their home, Arroyo would cook up her specialties — and there was always enough to go around.
"She always wanted to feed you," said Fred Rodgers, a frequent dinner party guest during his 25-year friendship with the Arroyos. "Whatever she was cooking, she wanted you to try some of it."
Arroyo, who went by the nickname "Gina," died Monday. She was 72.
"She was just one heck of a woman, and she'll be missed," Rodgers said.
Arroyo came to Aurora from Puerto Rico around 1950. Her husband was working on a mushroom farm in West Chicago, and he arranged for his wife to cook for the farm's 200 laborers.
She also cooked for other workers, like Johnny Rodriguez, who came to Aurora from Puerto Rico to work in a factory, and Arthur Velasquez, who moved here from Texas on behalf of his carpenters union.
"They opened their doors to me like a long-lost brother the first day," Velasquez said. "We became good friends."
Rodriguez recalled that even though he slept a few doors down from the Arroyo home, he used to show up at their door every morning for coffee and breakfast. Then Gina Arroyo would pack him a lunch to take to work.
In the evening, he and about 10 other men would have dinner with the Arroyos and watch television at their house before going home to bed.
"She was like a mom to me," Rodriguez said.
Though Arroyo didn't speak much English, there was one English word she used frequently, recalled Tony Martinez, who met the Arroyos when he came to Aurora from Puerto Rico in 1970.
"I remember that she learned the most beautiful word," he said. "She called everyone 'Honey.'"
"She was so sweet with everybody," he said. "She helped a lot of people."
In addition to raising her own six children, Arroyo took in several foster children from the Department of Children and Family Services, said Al Talip, who lived down the street.
When a family needed money to pay for a funeral, Arroyo would cook up a feast as a fund-raiser, he recalled.
Other fund-raisers were political.
"She was very supportive of her husband Doroteo, who was for years a leader of the Puerto Rican community in Aurora," said former mayor David Pierce. "They were working on voter registration efforts, getting the Puerto Rican community involved in politics."
Doroteo Arroyo, who died in October, was one of the founders of the Latin Democrats and the Puerto Rican Parade Committee, now called the Puerto Rican Cultural Council.
At the annual parades, Gina Arroyo's booth was always packed, and people sometimes waited in line for two hours to get a taste of her cooking, according to Rodriguez, who said his favorite dish was her potatoes stuffed with spiced meat.
"She'd be preparing everything for weeks so she could have everything in place," he said. "She used to sometimes go through 90 pounds of rice."
05/23/03
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo, 72, of Aurora, IL passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2003 at Rush-Copley Medical Center. She was born January 16, 1931 in Puerto Rico.
Gina joins her beloved husband, Doroteo Arroyo, who preceded her in death October 19, 2002. Funeral services will be Friday, May 23, 2003 from 9:15 AM at The Daleiden Lake Street Mortuary to St. Therese Church at 10 AM with Fr. Joseph Muller, M.S.C. officiating. Interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, May 22, 2003 from 2 until 9 PM at The Daleiden Lake Street Mortuary, 220 N. Lake St., Aurora, IL, 60506. 630-898-8634. A complete obituary notice will appear in tomorrow's Beacon News. www.daleidenmortuary.com
***
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo
1931-2003
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo, 72, of Aurora died Tuesday, May 20, at Rush Copley Hospital. Born in Cagus, Puerto Rico, January 16, 1931 to Valentine and Pascuala (Nieve) Reyes.
Gina was a member of St. Therese Church. She retired from Aurora Women's Coat Factory where she was a seamstress. Gina was best known for her cooking. She cooked for thirty years at the Annual Puerto Rican Heritage Festivals. Wherever the line was the longest, that was where Gina Arroyos' food stand could be found. The door to Gina's home was never closed to anyone seeking shelter or a hot meal. There was always room for one more at her home and her dinner table.
Survivors include her children, Antonia Arroyo of Aurora, Lucy (George) Rosa of Puerto Rico, Jose (Valerie) Arroyo of North Aurora, William Arroyo of Aurora, Carmen Arroyo of Aurora and Armando Arroyo of Aurora; her brothers, Francisco Reyes of Puerto Rico and Roman Arroyo of Aurora; her grandchildren, Dempsey Jeffries III, Teneka Jeffries, Raymond Rosa, Margie Rosa and George Rosa Jr. and four great-grandchildren. Many nieces, nephews and friends survive.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Doroteo Arroyo; two sons, Antonio and Salvador Arroyo and her parents.
Funeral services will be held in Spanish on Friday, May 23, 2003 from 9:15 a.m. at THE DALEIDEN LAKE STREET MORTUARY to St. Therese Church at 10 a.m. Fr. Joseph Muller, M.S.C. will officiate with interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, May 22, 2003 from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at THE DALEIDEN LAKE STREET MORTUARY, 220 N. LAKE ST., AURORA, IL 60506. (630) 898-8634
www.daleidenmortuary.com
***
Gina Arroyo remembered for her sweet generosity
By Mary Ellen Moore STAFF WRITER Aurora Beacon News, Aurora IL
AURORA — Georgina Arroyo didn't measure ingredients by the cup.
The recipe for her famous "Pastel de Puerto Rico" calls for 15 pounds of pork, 5 pounds of white potatoes, 10 pounds of plantains and 5 pounds of lard.
Her standard arroz recipe yielded 5 pounds of rice.
Arroyo, a legend in Aurora for her Puerto Rican cuisine, was used to cooking for a crowd.
Whether it was a quinceanera, a summer festival or one of the many fund-raisers she and husband Doroteo held in their home, Arroyo would cook up her specialties — and there was always enough to go around.
"She always wanted to feed you," said Fred Rodgers, a frequent dinner party guest during his 25-year friendship with the Arroyos. "Whatever she was cooking, she wanted you to try some of it."
Arroyo, who went by the nickname "Gina," died Monday. She was 72.
"She was just one heck of a woman, and she'll be missed," Rodgers said.
Arroyo came to Aurora from Puerto Rico around 1950. Her husband was working on a mushroom farm in West Chicago, and he arranged for his wife to cook for the farm's 200 laborers.
She also cooked for other workers, like Johnny Rodriguez, who came to Aurora from Puerto Rico to work in a factory, and Arthur Velasquez, who moved here from Texas on behalf of his carpenters union.
"They opened their doors to me like a long-lost brother the first day," Velasquez said. "We became good friends."
Rodriguez recalled that even though he slept a few doors down from the Arroyo home, he used to show up at their door every morning for coffee and breakfast. Then Gina Arroyo would pack him a lunch to take to work.
In the evening, he and about 10 other men would have dinner with the Arroyos and watch television at their house before going home to bed.
"She was like a mom to me," Rodriguez said.
Though Arroyo didn't speak much English, there was one English word she used frequently, recalled Tony Martinez, who met the Arroyos when he came to Aurora from Puerto Rico in 1970.
"I remember that she learned the most beautiful word," he said. "She called everyone 'Honey.'"
"She was so sweet with everybody," he said. "She helped a lot of people."
In addition to raising her own six children, Arroyo took in several foster children from the Department of Children and Family Services, said Al Talip, who lived down the street.
When a family needed money to pay for a funeral, Arroyo would cook up a feast as a fund-raiser, he recalled.
Other fund-raisers were political.
"She was very supportive of her husband Doroteo, who was for years a leader of the Puerto Rican community in Aurora," said former mayor David Pierce. "They were working on voter registration efforts, getting the Puerto Rican community involved in politics."
Doroteo Arroyo, who died in October, was one of the founders of the Latin Democrats and the Puerto Rican Parade Committee, now called the Puerto Rican Cultural Council.
At the annual parades, Gina Arroyo's booth was always packed, and people sometimes waited in line for two hours to get a taste of her cooking, according to Rodriguez, who said his favorite dish was her potatoes stuffed with spiced meat.
"She'd be preparing everything for weeks so she could have everything in place," he said. "She used to sometimes go through 90 pounds of rice."
05/23/03
1931 - 2003
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo, 72, of Aurora, IL passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2003 at Rush-Copley Medical Center. She was born January 16, 1931 in Puerto Rico.
Gina joins her beloved husband, Doroteo Arroyo, who preceded her in death October 19, 2002. Funeral services will be Friday, May 23, 2003 from 9:15 AM at The Daleiden Lake Street Mortuary to St. Therese Church at 10 AM with Fr. Joseph Muller, M.S.C. officiating. Interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, May 22, 2003 from 2 until 9 PM at The Daleiden Lake Street Mortuary, 220 N. Lake St., Aurora, IL, 60506. 630-898-8634. A complete obituary notice will appear in tomorrow's Beacon News. www.daleidenmortuary.com
***
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo
1931-2003
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo, 72, of Aurora died Tuesday, May 20, at Rush Copley Hospital. Born in Cagus, Puerto Rico, January 16, 1931 to Valentine and Pascuala (Nieve) Reyes.
Gina was a member of St. Therese Church. She retired from Aurora Women's Coat Factory where she was a seamstress. Gina was best known for her cooking. She cooked for thirty years at the Annual Puerto Rican Heritage Festivals. Wherever the line was the longest, that was where Gina Arroyos' food stand could be found. The door to Gina's home was never closed to anyone seeking shelter or a hot meal. There was always room for one more at her home and her dinner table.
Survivors include her children, Antonia Arroyo of Aurora, Lucy (George) Rosa of Puerto Rico, Jose (Valerie) Arroyo of North Aurora, William Arroyo of Aurora, Carmen Arroyo of Aurora and Armando Arroyo of Aurora; her brothers, Francisco Reyes of Puerto Rico and Roman Arroyo of Aurora; her grandchildren, Dempsey Jeffries III, Teneka Jeffries, Raymond Rosa, Margie Rosa and George Rosa Jr. and four great-grandchildren. Many nieces, nephews and friends survive.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Doroteo Arroyo; two sons, Antonio and Salvador Arroyo and her parents.
Funeral services will be held in Spanish on Friday, May 23, 2003 from 9:15 a.m. at THE DALEIDEN LAKE STREET MORTUARY to St. Therese Church at 10 a.m. Fr. Joseph Muller, M.S.C. will officiate with interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, May 22, 2003 from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at THE DALEIDEN LAKE STREET MORTUARY, 220 N. LAKE ST., AURORA, IL 60506. (630) 898-8634
www.daleidenmortuary.com
***
Gina Arroyo remembered for her sweet generosity
By Mary Ellen Moore STAFF WRITER Aurora Beacon News, Aurora IL
AURORA — Georgina Arroyo didn't measure ingredients by the cup.
The recipe for her famous "Pastel de Puerto Rico" calls for 15 pounds of pork, 5 pounds of white potatoes, 10 pounds of plantains and 5 pounds of lard.
Her standard arroz recipe yielded 5 pounds of rice.
Arroyo, a legend in Aurora for her Puerto Rican cuisine, was used to cooking for a crowd.
Whether it was a quinceanera, a summer festival or one of the many fund-raisers she and husband Doroteo held in their home, Arroyo would cook up her specialties — and there was always enough to go around.
"She always wanted to feed you," said Fred Rodgers, a frequent dinner party guest during his 25-year friendship with the Arroyos. "Whatever she was cooking, she wanted you to try some of it."
Arroyo, who went by the nickname "Gina," died Monday. She was 72.
"She was just one heck of a woman, and she'll be missed," Rodgers said.
Arroyo came to Aurora from Puerto Rico around 1950. Her husband was working on a mushroom farm in West Chicago, and he arranged for his wife to cook for the farm's 200 laborers.
She also cooked for other workers, like Johnny Rodriguez, who came to Aurora from Puerto Rico to work in a factory, and Arthur Velasquez, who moved here from Texas on behalf of his carpenters union.
"They opened their doors to me like a long-lost brother the first day," Velasquez said. "We became good friends."
Rodriguez recalled that even though he slept a few doors down from the Arroyo home, he used to show up at their door every morning for coffee and breakfast. Then Gina Arroyo would pack him a lunch to take to work.
In the evening, he and about 10 other men would have dinner with the Arroyos and watch television at their house before going home to bed.
"She was like a mom to me," Rodriguez said.
Though Arroyo didn't speak much English, there was one English word she used frequently, recalled Tony Martinez, who met the Arroyos when he came to Aurora from Puerto Rico in 1970.
"I remember that she learned the most beautiful word," he said. "She called everyone 'Honey.'"
"She was so sweet with everybody," he said. "She helped a lot of people."
In addition to raising her own six children, Arroyo took in several foster children from the Department of Children and Family Services, said Al Talip, who lived down the street.
When a family needed money to pay for a funeral, Arroyo would cook up a feast as a fund-raiser, he recalled.
Other fund-raisers were political.
"She was very supportive of her husband Doroteo, who was for years a leader of the Puerto Rican community in Aurora," said former mayor David Pierce. "They were working on voter registration efforts, getting the Puerto Rican community involved in politics."
Doroteo Arroyo, who died in October, was one of the founders of the Latin Democrats and the Puerto Rican Parade Committee, now called the Puerto Rican Cultural Council.
At the annual parades, Gina Arroyo's booth was always packed, and people sometimes waited in line for two hours to get a taste of her cooking, according to Rodriguez, who said his favorite dish was her potatoes stuffed with spiced meat.
"She'd be preparing everything for weeks so she could have everything in place," he said. "She used to sometimes go through 90 pounds of rice."
05/23/03
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo, 72, of Aurora, IL passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2003 at Rush-Copley Medical Center. She was born January 16, 1931 in Puerto Rico.
Gina joins her beloved husband, Doroteo Arroyo, who preceded her in death October 19, 2002. Funeral services will be Friday, May 23, 2003 from 9:15 AM at The Daleiden Lake Street Mortuary to St. Therese Church at 10 AM with Fr. Joseph Muller, M.S.C. officiating. Interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, May 22, 2003 from 2 until 9 PM at The Daleiden Lake Street Mortuary, 220 N. Lake St., Aurora, IL, 60506. 630-898-8634. A complete obituary notice will appear in tomorrow's Beacon News. www.daleidenmortuary.com
***
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo
1931-2003
Georgina "Gina" Arroyo, 72, of Aurora died Tuesday, May 20, at Rush Copley Hospital. Born in Cagus, Puerto Rico, January 16, 1931 to Valentine and Pascuala (Nieve) Reyes.
Gina was a member of St. Therese Church. She retired from Aurora Women's Coat Factory where she was a seamstress. Gina was best known for her cooking. She cooked for thirty years at the Annual Puerto Rican Heritage Festivals. Wherever the line was the longest, that was where Gina Arroyos' food stand could be found. The door to Gina's home was never closed to anyone seeking shelter or a hot meal. There was always room for one more at her home and her dinner table.
Survivors include her children, Antonia Arroyo of Aurora, Lucy (George) Rosa of Puerto Rico, Jose (Valerie) Arroyo of North Aurora, William Arroyo of Aurora, Carmen Arroyo of Aurora and Armando Arroyo of Aurora; her brothers, Francisco Reyes of Puerto Rico and Roman Arroyo of Aurora; her grandchildren, Dempsey Jeffries III, Teneka Jeffries, Raymond Rosa, Margie Rosa and George Rosa Jr. and four great-grandchildren. Many nieces, nephews and friends survive.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Doroteo Arroyo; two sons, Antonio and Salvador Arroyo and her parents.
Funeral services will be held in Spanish on Friday, May 23, 2003 from 9:15 a.m. at THE DALEIDEN LAKE STREET MORTUARY to St. Therese Church at 10 a.m. Fr. Joseph Muller, M.S.C. will officiate with interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, May 22, 2003 from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at THE DALEIDEN LAKE STREET MORTUARY, 220 N. LAKE ST., AURORA, IL 60506. (630) 898-8634
www.daleidenmortuary.com
***
Gina Arroyo remembered for her sweet generosity
By Mary Ellen Moore STAFF WRITER Aurora Beacon News, Aurora IL
AURORA — Georgina Arroyo didn't measure ingredients by the cup.
The recipe for her famous "Pastel de Puerto Rico" calls for 15 pounds of pork, 5 pounds of white potatoes, 10 pounds of plantains and 5 pounds of lard.
Her standard arroz recipe yielded 5 pounds of rice.
Arroyo, a legend in Aurora for her Puerto Rican cuisine, was used to cooking for a crowd.
Whether it was a quinceanera, a summer festival or one of the many fund-raisers she and husband Doroteo held in their home, Arroyo would cook up her specialties — and there was always enough to go around.
"She always wanted to feed you," said Fred Rodgers, a frequent dinner party guest during his 25-year friendship with the Arroyos. "Whatever she was cooking, she wanted you to try some of it."
Arroyo, who went by the nickname "Gina," died Monday. She was 72.
"She was just one heck of a woman, and she'll be missed," Rodgers said.
Arroyo came to Aurora from Puerto Rico around 1950. Her husband was working on a mushroom farm in West Chicago, and he arranged for his wife to cook for the farm's 200 laborers.
She also cooked for other workers, like Johnny Rodriguez, who came to Aurora from Puerto Rico to work in a factory, and Arthur Velasquez, who moved here from Texas on behalf of his carpenters union.
"They opened their doors to me like a long-lost brother the first day," Velasquez said. "We became good friends."
Rodriguez recalled that even though he slept a few doors down from the Arroyo home, he used to show up at their door every morning for coffee and breakfast. Then Gina Arroyo would pack him a lunch to take to work.
In the evening, he and about 10 other men would have dinner with the Arroyos and watch television at their house before going home to bed.
"She was like a mom to me," Rodriguez said.
Though Arroyo didn't speak much English, there was one English word she used frequently, recalled Tony Martinez, who met the Arroyos when he came to Aurora from Puerto Rico in 1970.
"I remember that she learned the most beautiful word," he said. "She called everyone 'Honey.'"
"She was so sweet with everybody," he said. "She helped a lot of people."
In addition to raising her own six children, Arroyo took in several foster children from the Department of Children and Family Services, said Al Talip, who lived down the street.
When a family needed money to pay for a funeral, Arroyo would cook up a feast as a fund-raiser, he recalled.
Other fund-raisers were political.
"She was very supportive of her husband Doroteo, who was for years a leader of the Puerto Rican community in Aurora," said former mayor David Pierce. "They were working on voter registration efforts, getting the Puerto Rican community involved in politics."
Doroteo Arroyo, who died in October, was one of the founders of the Latin Democrats and the Puerto Rican Parade Committee, now called the Puerto Rican Cultural Council.
At the annual parades, Gina Arroyo's booth was always packed, and people sometimes waited in line for two hours to get a taste of her cooking, according to Rodriguez, who said his favorite dish was her potatoes stuffed with spiced meat.
"She'd be preparing everything for weeks so she could have everything in place," he said. "She used to sometimes go through 90 pounds of rice."
05/23/03
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