‘I have such need of giving away my love for others’

“Ha! I made you laugh!” she told a patient while leaving the room on a May morning after administering Communion to the woman who had received her with a sad look.

“I like to tell them funny stories to make their lives a little easier,” she told The Tidings, referring to the patients she visits at the hospital that serves residents of Montebello, Pico Rivera, Monterey Park, El Monte, Whittier, East Los Angeles and surrounding communities.

Villalobos is one of St. Benedict Church’s Eucharistic ministers that do not miss a day to minister to the sick at the hospital or at their homes and to the elderly at Montebello’s Rio Hondo Convalescent Home and at Golden Manor Retirement Center. She’s been doing it every single morning for the last two decades.

For her service to the community and for being a driving force in her own family --- comprised of her husband Ralph and her six children, all graduates of Catholic schools and of local colleges --- Villalobos was named the Mexican Mother of the Year 2011 and will be honored May 21 during a Mariachi Mass at St. Mary Church in Boyle Heights followed by a luncheon.

The 70-year-old longtime St. Benedict parishioner was selected from three candidates for “exemplifying the Catholic teachings and the Mexican traditions,” Carmen Sandoval, president of the Mexican Mother of the Year Association (marking its 60th anniversary this year), told The Tidings.

When she read Villalobos’ biography, Sandoval had no doubts about choosing her for the annual recognition. “I’ve known her for many years,” Sandoval said. “She is unassuming, very humble.”

An immigrant-survivor
Frances Gonzalez arrived in Montebello at the age of 16 after the death of her father, the owner of a small movie theater in the “ranchito” or farming community of Tepetongo in the Mexican state of Zacatecas.

She was the second of eight children and was sent by her mother to work in order to help provide for the large family.

Her godmother Sara Díaz accepted her at her home, where she worked as the cleaning lady and baby sitter. She also enrolled in school to learn English and quickly became acquainted with the American lifestyle.

“It was about surviving,” she says. “As soon as I learned how things worked here in the United States, I got a job as a dog sitter and then at a ribbon factory.” She later earned her general education diploma (GED) and took a cosmetology course.

Life in the U.S. without her family was not easy and when her boyfriend Ralph --- a native Angeleno --- proposed, she gave him a “yes.” A few months later, once she turned 18 (he was one year older), the couple married. (Frances’ mother, who worried about her daughter marrying so young, and her siblings later became U.S. residents as well.)

It’s been 52 years (and six children, 12 grandchildren and two great grandchildren) since the couple tied the knot --- and they still enjoy their life together. They were co-founding members of St. Benedict’s Eucharistic ministry, serving in hospitals, nursing and convalescent homes and jails.

They both were raised by devout Catholic parents and it has been their faith that has helped them weather many storms, said Frances, including the death of one of their sons at the age of 24.

“Eucharistic ministry has taught me a lot,” she noted. “I have such need of giving away my love for others; I thirst for the presence of God and want to share it.”

On one occasion, a priest asked her how she had found God. “God found me,” she replied, “and I just acknowledged Him.”

She has no doubt that God is always with her, she said.

“Just knock and you’ll see what happens,” she told several Beverly Hospital patients who shared their difficulties with her as she made her Communion rounds.

Asked about being honored as the Mother of the Year, she said she was very surprised. “It’s another gift from God,” she commented.
“She deserves that honor,” said Augustinian Recollect Father Domingo Machado, St. Benedict’s pastor. “She is well educated and has very good faith-based values that she has transmitted to her own children and grandchildren.”

In the two years he has led the church, Father Machado said he has been a witness of her example of dedication and commitment to the church and to the sick along with her husband.

“As a couple they are an example to their own children and to others; they’re involved in the church, friendly, pious and always open to meet others’ needs.”

For more information about the Mexican Mother of the Year Association, call Carmen Sandoval, (323) 722-4275.