Rafaela Aguilar Mendoza Obituary (1930

Rafaela Mendoza, 91, a resident of the Hillsboro community, passed away at her home after a long illness, on Wednesday September 7, 2022 at 9:15 a.m. Holy Rosary and Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Friday September 16, 2022 at St Matthew Catholic Church 447 SE 3 rd Ave. in Hillsboro. Christian Burial will take place following the Mass held at St. Matthew Catholic Cemetery on Rood Bridge Road in Hillsboro. Rafaela was born on December 20, 1930 in Chical Municipio de Aguililla Michoacan Mexico. She was one of seven children born to Juan Aguilar and Maria Gonzalez. She was raised in San Jose de Chila Michoacan where she met her future husband Miguel Mendoza and married in 1946. The family moved to the United States in 1967 settling in Stockton California and then to North Plains in 1968. They lived in the general area until they bought their house in Hillsboro in 1971. Rafaela and her husband started working as laborers in the local fields in and around Washington County. She liked going to church and being a homemaker. She is proceeded in death by her parents and siblings. She is survived by her four children and their spouses; Hortencia and James Figuroa of Aloha, Valeria and Jon Thomason of Aloha, Rafael and Isabell Mendoza of Hillsboro, Fidel Mendoza of Hillsboro, eight grandchildren and sixteen great grandchildren.