Erma Linda Moraga passed into Eternity on Monday morning April 29, 2013. She was born in Ventura on September 24, 1923 to the newly immigrated Juan and Sara Hernandez from the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. She grew up on a ranch on the outskirts of town in a family of five sisters.
Her goal in life was to have her own family and devote herself to it with her entire heart, soul and imagination.
While barely a teenager she met the love of her life, Robert Martin (“Bob”) Moraga of Ventura, who would later go on to be her devoted husband and soul mate until his death in 2006. The two were inseparable and still held hands after 59 years of marriage. The same unselfish devotion she showed her family extended to anyone hurting or in need. Erma had a special place in her heart for families that struggled, and for the lonesome elderly. She would help anyone from cooking food for a family that had lost a loved one, to scrubbing a neighbor’s kitchen floor on her hands and knees because they couldn’t do it themselves.
Her talent as a homemaker went far beyond her fastidious penchant for cleaning and her legendary prowess in the kitchen, in that she knew how to make a home warm and loving. It was a reflection of her enormous heart. As a wife and mother, there was no sacrifice too great. She was a thoughtful, considerate and loyal daughter to her parents and in-laws. Erma was never demanding and was always a giver.
She had an infectious and distinctive laugh that frequently caught the attention of fellow audience members at the movie theater or stage plays. Erma was a comic’s delight and she possessed a childlike joy in her heart that was the key to her view of life. She took the ordinary and made it extraordinary. Her quick wit was a talent she honed to perfection in a household full of sisters, and it was always evident with her signature delivery of a well-timed one liner that managed to extract the humor of any event before her.
During the 1990’s she was to encounter an affliction that would change her life forever. Like a thief in the night it would go on to steal her identity, her memories and her ability to relate with those around her.
It was Alzheimer’s disease.
The once vibrant, witty and delightful joy of a woman, began to withdraw and would be engulfed with ever increasing bouts of sadness and confusion. But despite this tragedy of nearly 20 years there still would be flashes of the former Erma that were cultivated by the loving support of family, friends and the magnificent staff of Moran Manor.
As one of the original members of Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Ventura she received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick six days before slipping into Eternity to be in the company of the Lord Jesus Christ and also be united with her departed husband Robert, her parents, her sisters Eva, Rosie, Isabel and Lucy, and her infant brother Juanito. She is survived by her son Robert and daughter Linda, grandsons, Lucas and Tyler, and great granddaughters Piper and Charlotte.
Mother Teresa was once quoted as saying “I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, He will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather He will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?”
Those of us blessed to have known Erma Linda Moraga already know the answer to that question, and she will be missed very, very much.
Visitation will be Tuesday 5/21/2013 from 5 to 8pm with a Rosary at 7pm held in the Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home 757 E. Main Street Ventura. Funeral Mass Wednesday 5/22/2013 at 9AM in San Buenaventura Mission. Burial will follow in Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, Ventura.