Katherine Dominguez Lopez

Katherine Dominguez Lopez – mother, wife, grandmother, friend.

She loved to dance, play poker, yell out “Bingo!” and play the slot machines in Las Vegas. She could drive a speedboat, a truck, and stick shift with ease. She carved a career as a top-notched beautician who once owned Kathy’s Beauty Salon in Norwalk when women-owned businesses were sparse. Most of all, Mrs. Lopez  was a woman of strong Catholic faith and a Giver who took care of her husband, Jess, their family, friends, and neighborhood children.

Mrs. Lopez died January 27, 2022 at her home in La Mirada, California. She was 96. Services and Rosary begins at 9:30 a.m. February 11, 2022,  at St Paul of the Cross in La Mirada, a church she attended every Sunday for six decades and where she was a cherished member of the Guadalupanas.

Mrs. Lopez is survived by her husband Jess; children Robert (m. Betty), Rosemarie (m. David), Paul (m. Donell), Jesse (m. Penny), Vincent, and Timothy; grandchildren Bryan and Brandi, Natalia and Joshua, Justine, Maura and Samuel and Amelia, Greta, Otto, Jose, Raquel and Alfonzo; and great-grandchildren Alana and Jaylene, Mila, Nayani, Cayele, Namixtu’lu and Scaru, Kaiden and Henery, Cecilia and Ximena, and Mathilda; and  her brother Tony Dominguez.

Mrs. Lopez lived the American dream. She was born Oct. 5, 1925, in San Juan De Los Lagos in Jalisco, Mexico. She was one of 7 children of Matias and Concepcion Soria Dominguez. In 1928, the Dominguez family moved from Mexico to live in Trona, California. Mrs. Lopez loved living in Trona, where her father worked as a miner and her mother was a homemaker who cooked for the miners. For fun Mrs. Lopez and her young friends would hike to a secret place called Indian Joe’s and pick fresh figs and other fruit.

In the late 1930s, the family moved to Corona, California, where she graduated from Corona High and beautician school. She met her husband Jess, a World War II Army veteran, in Corona. They married on June 12, 1948 in St Edward’s Catholic Church in Corona. Instead of going on a honeymoon, Mrs. Lopez went through the process to become a naturalized American citizen. She knows more about American history than her kids because she had to pass a test.

Their first child, Joseph Jess, was born November 20,1949. Joseph Jess, who died in 1951 at 14 months, is in Heaven. Over the years, the Lopez family grew with the births of Robert, Rosemarie, Paul, Jesse, Vincent and Timothy. 

In the early years, the family camped at Salton Sea, where Jess would ski across the lake while his wife drove the boat equipped with a Johnson 75 HP engine. In the 1960s, the family found their favorite camping spot at Mammoth Pool in Madera County. Camping at Mammoth Pool was an annual tradition for six decades. Because Mrs. Lopez disliked camping, she made a deal with her husband. After camping, he had to take her to Las Vegas to recuperate.  

Mrs. Lopez was a smart shopper who knew how to save money. She and her husband bought their first home in Norwalk in 1953. Ten years later, they moved to La Mirada, where they have lived on Hayford Street ever since. 

Mrs. Lopez grew up poor in Trona and Corona; the Dominguez family often had little or no food for days and slept on cardboard. This experience led Mrs. Lopez to live her life to the fullest with a passion for cooking and a mission to feed family and friends and whoever came to her home. Homemade flour tortillas, the best refried beans, salsa, and tamales were often on the menu. 

Mrs. Lopez loved to eat soups and all kinds of fruits and loved to see wildflowers throughout California. She also loved to gamble. Her idea of fun was going to Indian casinos and Las Vegas and to the horse races. In her free time, she crochet and loved her dogs. 

Although Mrs Lopez was a diabetic, she was in good health up to September 2019, when she broke her hip and shoulder at age 93. She recovered from the fall, but later developed vision and hearing problems. She died of renal failure. In her final days, she was surrounded by her family with love, beauty, prayer, and the energia of her ancestors guiding her to cross the sacred threshold between here and the spirit world.

Mrs Lopez was predeceased by her parents; brothers Joseph, Alfonso and Eluterio; sisters Julie and Virginia; and her son Joseph. The Joe Dominguez American Legion Post #742 in Corona is named after her brother, who died in combat during World War II.

Mrs. Lopez and her family would like to thank Bristol Hospice.

Remembrances and In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in the memory of Katherine Lopez to:

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center - All donations will support general cancer research at the cancer center. Please make checks payable to USC Norris and write in the memo:  Katherine Lopez Memorial Gift.  Checks can be sent to the family and/or directly to the following address: USC Advancement Gift Services, 1150 S. Olive Street, 25^th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90015. 

                                                             Or

PADRE Foundation (non-profit for children's diabetes research)

505 S. Main St. 4th floor Suite 431, Orange, CA 92868

                                                      Or

Our Lady of Guadalupe Society (payable to)

at St. Paul of the Cross Church

14020 Foster Rd.

La Mirada, CA  90638 

(write in memo: Our Lady of Guadalupe Society)