LATHROP – Nellie Zavala’s four children finished their education, got a job, got married, and then started a family.
But the ageless Zavala did it all backwards. The oldest of 10 children, the grandmother of six – her sons were rather “slow getting kids,” she laughed – married young. She and her late husband, Ynes, hurried to the chapel soon after she graduated from St. Helena High School in the toni and upscale town in Napa Valley. And soon, in a few short years, their home was filled with the pitter-patter of young boys’ feet, and Zavala devoted her time to taking care of the home, her husband and their growing children. All thoughts of going back to school was pushed into the back burner for the time being as she concentrated on raising a family.
“I’ve always wanted to go to school, but because I had my boys, I felt it was important for me to raise them first,” said the retired social worker and lifelong community volunteer.
She decided to be a stay-at-home mom because of what she saw happening – families “beginning to disintegrate” because the “moms weren’t home” to provide the supervision to the children.
“I wanted to be here (at home) to make sure the kids were okay and not getting the wrong influences. I wanted to plant a foundation first for the kids, because they didn’t ask to be born. We brought them into this world,” said the petite and soft-spoken Zavala, a former Board of Trustee with the Manteca Unified School District and is currently the vice chairperson of the Mexican Heritage Center and Gallery board of directors in Stockton.
The Zavala household was the classic American family – with the husband bringing home the bacon and the mother nurturing the home – for many years. Zavala’s husband was a truck driver, but was just as busy as a volunteer with the Lathrop County Water District in the days before the town’s incorporation. Outside of her domestic duties, Zavala herself was heavily involved with school and community volunteer projects including the annual Miss Lathrop contests and the yearly Lathrop community festivals, among many others.
Once her children were grown, Zavala started focusing on her interrupted education.
“My youngest just started high school when I went to (San Joaquin) Delta (College), then to UOP,” said the spry senior who does not want to give her age because she “refuse(s) to be boxed in.”
While going back to school was her idea, her husband “pushed me” to pursue her academic dreams. After earning her required college credits at Delta, she transferred to the University of the Pacific where she earned her bachelor’s degree in social work.
But she did not stop there. She next enrolled at the California State University in Turlock for her master’s degree and finished it with flying colors.
As a social worker, she worked for Hospice of San Joaquin until she retired in 2009.
Her four sons – all graduates of Lathrop Elementary and East Union High School – have been equally successful in their chosen careers.
Oldest son Edward is now an administrator in the organ transplant department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee where he also teaches in the graduate school. Like his mother, he went to Delta College and later received his master’s degree in business from San Diego State University. He and his wife, who also works for the university, have one daughter who is getting married this year.
Second son Randolph (Randy) works in the maintenance department of Opus Winery in Napa Valley. He and his wife have two daughters.
Third son, Mark, is also employed in the maintenance department of Mondavi Winery in Napa and has one daughter with his wife.
The youngest of Zavala’s four boys is also married with two children, a boy and a girl. He currently works in computers for a hospital in Los Angeles where the family lives.
With all of her four children secure in their jobs and raising their own families, Zavala laughs as she says, “Now I can play.”
But play for Zavala means volunteering her time and treasures for various community efforts and nonprofit organizations such as the Mexican Heritage Center and Gallery in Stockton. On any given day that the center and gallery is open to the public, you will find Zavala on the front desk welcoming visitors, answering phones and, probably vacuuming the floors. She is currently on the board of directors of which she is the vice chairperson.
How did she and Ynes end up in Lathrop? Zavala explained that after they got married in St. Helena where her family lived at the time because of her father’s job, she and her husband moved to French Camp and then to Stockton. In 1967, they pulled up stakes in Stockton and moved to Lathrop. She recalled that there were fewer than 5,000 people living in town at that time.
“Our idea was, we wanted to be in a place where our kids could walk to school and you know that they were safe,” Zavala said.
But the ageless Zavala did it all backwards. The oldest of 10 children, the grandmother of six – her sons were rather “slow getting kids,” she laughed – married young. She and her late husband, Ynes, hurried to the chapel soon after she graduated from St. Helena High School in the toni and upscale town in Napa Valley. And soon, in a few short years, their home was filled with the pitter-patter of young boys’ feet, and Zavala devoted her time to taking care of the home, her husband and their growing children. All thoughts of going back to school was pushed into the back burner for the time being as she concentrated on raising a family.
“I’ve always wanted to go to school, but because I had my boys, I felt it was important for me to raise them first,” said the retired social worker and lifelong community volunteer.
She decided to be a stay-at-home mom because of what she saw happening – families “beginning to disintegrate” because the “moms weren’t home” to provide the supervision to the children.
“I wanted to be here (at home) to make sure the kids were okay and not getting the wrong influences. I wanted to plant a foundation first for the kids, because they didn’t ask to be born. We brought them into this world,” said the petite and soft-spoken Zavala, a former Board of Trustee with the Manteca Unified School District and is currently the vice chairperson of the Mexican Heritage Center and Gallery board of directors in Stockton.
The Zavala household was the classic American family – with the husband bringing home the bacon and the mother nurturing the home – for many years. Zavala’s husband was a truck driver, but was just as busy as a volunteer with the Lathrop County Water District in the days before the town’s incorporation. Outside of her domestic duties, Zavala herself was heavily involved with school and community volunteer projects including the annual Miss Lathrop contests and the yearly Lathrop community festivals, among many others.
Once her children were grown, Zavala started focusing on her interrupted education.
“My youngest just started high school when I went to (San Joaquin) Delta (College), then to UOP,” said the spry senior who does not want to give her age because she “refuse(s) to be boxed in.”
While going back to school was her idea, her husband “pushed me” to pursue her academic dreams. After earning her required college credits at Delta, she transferred to the University of the Pacific where she earned her bachelor’s degree in social work.
But she did not stop there. She next enrolled at the California State University in Turlock for her master’s degree and finished it with flying colors.
As a social worker, she worked for Hospice of San Joaquin until she retired in 2009.
Her four sons – all graduates of Lathrop Elementary and East Union High School – have been equally successful in their chosen careers.
Oldest son Edward is now an administrator in the organ transplant department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee where he also teaches in the graduate school. Like his mother, he went to Delta College and later received his master’s degree in business from San Diego State University. He and his wife, who also works for the university, have one daughter who is getting married this year.
Second son Randolph (Randy) works in the maintenance department of Opus Winery in Napa Valley. He and his wife have two daughters.
Third son, Mark, is also employed in the maintenance department of Mondavi Winery in Napa and has one daughter with his wife.
The youngest of Zavala’s four boys is also married with two children, a boy and a girl. He currently works in computers for a hospital in Los Angeles where the family lives.
With all of her four children secure in their jobs and raising their own families, Zavala laughs as she says, “Now I can play.”
But play for Zavala means volunteering her time and treasures for various community efforts and nonprofit organizations such as the Mexican Heritage Center and Gallery in Stockton. On any given day that the center and gallery is open to the public, you will find Zavala on the front desk welcoming visitors, answering phones and, probably vacuuming the floors. She is currently on the board of directors of which she is the vice chairperson.
How did she and Ynes end up in Lathrop? Zavala explained that after they got married in St. Helena where her family lived at the time because of her father’s job, she and her husband moved to French Camp and then to Stockton. In 1967, they pulled up stakes in Stockton and moved to Lathrop. She recalled that there were fewer than 5,000 people living in town at that time.
“Our idea was, we wanted to be in a place where our kids could walk to school and you know that they were safe,” Zavala said.
