Dominga Velasco

Dominga Velasco
Born (1901-05-12)May 12, 1901
Yahualica de González Gallo, Jalisco, Mexico
Died October 11, 2015(2015-10-11)
(aged 114 years, 152 days)
Oakland, California
Known for Latino Activism
Oldest Mexican-born person ever
Children 2
Parent(s) Teofilo Loera and Maria Atanacia Antón Ruiz

Dominga Velasco or Dominguita (May 12, 1901 – October 11, 2015)[1] was a Mexican-American pioneer, Latino activist,[2] and a Mexican-born American supercentenarian. She is the oldest verified person ever born in Mexico. She was the world's seventh-oldest living person, the second-oldest person living in the United States (behind Susannah Mushatt Jones) and the oldest living resident of California at the time of her death.

Biography

Velasco was born in Jalisco, Mexico, but she grew up in Coahuila.[3] Her father was a shoemaker.[4] She was the youngest of five children.[4] She and her family moved to the USA in the 1920s. They had fled civil unrest at the end of the Mexican Revolution, witnessing the last battle between followers of Pancho Villa and the government Federales in Ciudad Juárez as they crossed the border.[5] They spent three years in El Paso and they later moved to California and settled in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland.

She first worked at the California Fruit Packing Company but that was only seasonal work so she then moved to the California Candy Company commuting from San Francisco to Oakland.[6] In 1928, she married Salvador Velasco Ruiz[7] and they had two children, Josephine and Rosemarie.[5]

Velasco quit working due to pain, but during World War II Velasco and her husband instead opened a restaurant in Oakland, called Chapala (after Lake Chapala).[7] They sold the business after three years and opened another restaurant, The Enchilada Shop, which they sold after another year and started a floral shop.[8] Two years later, they sold the shop, retired. However, restless, Velasco began working in the Spanish community and helped found the Unity Council.[8] The group would work to secure better living facilities for senior living in Oakland and would eventually own their own senior living facility.[9]

She was the subject of a 2004 news profile in the Oakland Tribune which reported that, at age 102, "Velasco is now considered to be a great-grandmother of Latino activism in Oakland."[5] She was honored as one of the female pioneers of Oakland with a plaque as part of the Sigame statue in Oakland.[5][10] along with a plaque in front of Oakland City Hall.[9]

When asked about her key to aging well, she said, "Be happy". Velasco's residence as of 2014 was Posada de Colores in Oakland.[11]

Velasco died on the morning of Sunday, October 11, 2015 at her home in Las Posada de Colores, Fruitvale district of Oakland, California.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Supercentenarian Data -- Table E". Gerontology Research Group. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Oakland Latino activist Dominguita Velasco dies at age 114". mercurynews.com. 19 Oct 2015. Retrieved 21 Oct 2015.
  3. ↑ Hispanic Genealogy ancestors in Yahualica
  4. 1 2 Shashidhara, Meera (2013). Living To Be A Hundred. Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 38. ISBN 9381576432.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Great-grandmother of local activism dances, organizes
  6. ↑ Shashidhara, Meera (2013). Living To Be A Hundred. Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 39. ISBN 9381576432.
  7. 1 2 Shashidhara, Meera (2013). Living To Be A Hundred. Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 40. ISBN 9381576432.
  8. 1 2 Shashidhara, Meera (2013). Living To Be A Hundred. Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 41. ISBN 9381576432.
  9. 1 2 Shashidhara, Meera (2013). Living To Be A Hundred. Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 43. ISBN 9381576432.
  10. ↑ Shashidhara, Meera (2013). Living To Be A Hundred. Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 9381576432.
  11. ↑ "Oakland's Dominga Velasco marks her 111th birthday". sfgate.com. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  12. ↑ Parr, Rebecca (19 October 2015). "Oakland Latino activist Dominguita Velasco dies at age 114". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
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