In Memoriam : Christine Vega

Christine Hinojosa Vega - age: 86
(October 29, 1935 to April 26, 2022 )
Resident of Farmersville, California

Visitation Information:
Memorial Mass with Rosary and Mass will be held Friday May 6, 2022 at 9:00 A.M. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Exeter

Obituary:
Christine Hinojosa (Patiño) Vega, Matriarch of the family, Grandmother to all, Queen of the neighborhood, no longer walks among us on this Earthly plane. She gave her last breath to the universe early Tuesday morning, April 26, 2022, just a few months shy of her birthday of October 29, 1935. Her 86 years on this planet were more than memorable; they were legendary! Just ask her surviving husband, Juan Vega, you will see him take a deep breath, smile, and begin to tell you stories, stories of how they met, married in 1980, and the flurry of memories over the next 42 years. Of the many golden moments of her life, at the top were the children she loved, yet had to leave behind. Sons Frank Patiño, Bobby Patiño, and Jack Patiño, and daughter Cindy Gasca now carry her fire onward. Christine saw the early passing of two sons, David Patiño, and Jerry Patiño soon after. She also lovingly welcomed into her life Lynette Menchaca and her family, as well. She joins her brothers Oscar Hinojosa, Cristobal Hinojosa, Leonel Hinojosa, and Raul Hinojosa, and sisters Estella Garcia, Hilda Cavazos, and Aida Garza, admiring the countryside homeland in North Mexico/south Texas once again. She is also survived by her brother Juan Hinojosa of San Antonio, TX, and sister Nelia Flores of Kerville, TX. Christine was blessed with grandchildren galore, a treasure she admired as much as she could and with every opportunity. They include Kaycee Patiño, Jocelyn Patiño, Zach Davidson, Gayna Hulstine, Misha Patiño Brown, Megan Collins, Betsy Leon, Peter Gasca, Michelle Rodriguez, Nick Gasca, Renay Patiño, Tiffany Donnahoe, Amber Dahlke Patiño,Taysia Patiño-Shaw, Brandy Amaro, Robert Patiño, and grandrabbits Ebony Patiño and the late H. Pfeffer Patiño. And as for great-grandkids, Christine was doubly blessed by being Great-Grandma to 21 more members of the family. She loved and cherished each and every child that started with her own, to the very last born. They were what put the smile on her face and the twinkle in her eye when she talked about any of them. Christine was originally born in San Antonio, TX, and grew up in Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas, MX, with her colorful siblings. She attended school in Texas, and reminded her own kids that due to her lack of speaking English fluently at the time, she ended up as an older child in a classroom full of grade-schoolers in order to play catch up. She said that before too long, she not only caught up, but surpassed a lot of the students in the grade she should have been in in the first place. She eventually met Francisco (Frank) Patiño while at Kerrville State Hospital in Kerrville, TX, and married shortly after. David and Frank were born to them in Texas, followed by the births of Cindy, Jerry, Bobby, and Jack in California. They lived in a small home on South Kern Street in Farmersville, and in the early 1970s, moved to her last home ever on East Citrus Drive. She did not sit around to be just a mom and homemaker, though; she strove for more in life. She went through college training through the state of California in order to become a Psychiatric Technician at the Porterville Developmental Center (then Porterville State Hospital). She eventually became a ward manager, having put in close to 30 years before she retired. But working at the hospital was not enough for her, for Christine also worked as a salesperson for Home Interiors and Gifts, Inc., out of Texas. She loved this job, bringing beauty and life into the homes of many friends, old and new. Overall, she worked with H&I for close to 30 years, having many ladies working below her and training others in the process. Needless to say, she did not know how to slow down, for her beloved motto from H&I founder Mary Crowley was always "If it is to be, it's up to me!" Travel was a sheer pleasure for Christine, having visited Hawaii for a few weeks in the 1970s, travelled to see family back in Texas, drove up the west coast and surrounding states to follow her son on a high school wrestling trek, vacationed in the Bahamas thanks to H&I and her own hard work, plus attended many a company celebration, held all over the United States. In her later years, she would venture back to Kerrville, San Antonio, and Roma, TX, to visit family. While there, she was able to visit her childhood home of Ciudad Mier in the state of Tamaulipas, MX, and was able to lay flowers on the graves of loved ones during a celebration very close to her, Dia de los Muertos. It didn't matter to her where she visited, as long as she could sit in the front passenger seat, and have her beloved coffee within arm's reach. Though she may have slowed down in her movements towards the end, and endured various aches and pains, she still found beauty in the eyes of her many grandkids and great grandkids. That same beauty was also found in the lovely collection of flowering plants and fruit trees on her property. She did leave it up to her kids to replenish the nectar in the hummingbird feeders in front of the house in order to continue to care for those who could not possibly repay her, other than to show beauty back. She loved her wine, too, closely guarding her last bottle of pomegranate wine from Casa de Fruta, always known to her as her Mecca in which she always intended to visit again someday. She wasn't much of a beer person, mainly because sweet wines were readily available to her. Overall, her ultimate drinking pleasure came from the house Margaritas from El Rosal in Visalia. Season, her waitress, knew exactly how to make Christine her frozen Nirvana! Her taste for sweets were varied, and though she could happily wolf down a sirloin steak with all the fixings from Sizzler (her favorite restaurant), her facial expressions from that first spoonful of cream of wheat (loaded with half a tub of butter and a brick of sugar), were of sheer bliss. Her arthritic yet still strong hands would come up in a determined "OK" sign and not a word would come from her mouth till she had finished round one. No longer does Christine need to worry about calories, insulin injections, how much sugar to put in her cream of wheat, running out of bites of medium rare sirloin, empty glasses of pomegranate wine, missing a Dodgers game on TV, or any of the little things that add up to so much. She is free to check in on any of us, whether in our dreams, as a gently falling dandelion seed skimming our skin, hearing the hum of the wings of a hummingbird nearby, or the giggle of toddler trying to chase down her grandrabbit. Smile in a mirror, and you will see Christine. Hug your family, and you will feel Christine. Kiss someone on the cheek, and you will love as Christine loved. She is gone, but she is not gone. If your heart feels heavy, rest assured that it is heavy because she is in there with you.

"If it is to be, It is up to me"
- Mary C. Crowley

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