Mrs. Amparo Ann Cruz Epinoza passed on Monday evening, November 25th, 2013. 
    She was the firstborn of 13 children born to Mercedes Trejo Cruz and Dionicio Lopez Cruz.  Her father worked for the railroad company in El Paso, Texas, where Ann was born.  The family lived in New Mexico and later Arizona before eventually settling in California’s Central Valley. 
    Ann attended Calla Grammar School and graduated from Manteca High School at the age of 16, ready to take on the world.  She attended Humprey’s College and later became a top secretary at Kyle & Co, Stockton during World War II.  She graduated Cum Laude from Delta College.  Her last job in 1955 was for the California Highway Patrol in Stockton as a dispatcher.
   She met the love of her life at a dance in Stockton, and almost a decade later she married Marcelino V. Espinoza at St. Ann’s in Lodi, California on December 30th, 1954.  She was his “Yellow Rose of Texas”.  They raised two beautiful daughters together in Stockton, Susan Isabel and Helen Mary, who gave them five grandchildren that she loved dearly.
    She will be remembered as a fiercely independent and compassionate woman, who was constantly taking care of others.  Whether she was volunteering at her children’s schools or St. Joseph’s Medical Center; with St. Michael’s Ladies Guild or Helping Hands; or serving on the Grand Jury, Ann believed in service and giving back to her community.  She was truly beloved by her family and friends and everyone that knew her.
    She is survived by her husband, Marcelino V. Espinoza; her daughters Susan Isabel Angulo (m. Dr. Samuel J. Angulo) and Helen Mary Tovar (m. Michael Tovar); her sisters Mary Cruz, Cruzita Ybarra, Lucy Jacquez, Lupe Calderon and Angelina Espinoza; her brothers Phillip Cruz, Raymond Cruz, Crescencio Cruz and Dionicio Cruz; and her grandchildren Sondra Ann-Marie Angulo, Shawna Renee Harris (m. Travis Harris), Danielle Helene Moore (m. Sgt Paul Moore), Kristiane Gayle Studdert (m. Louis Studdert) and Samuel Allen Angulo.
    Visitation at DeYoung Funeral Chapel 601 N. California Street, Stockton, CA.,  95202 Thursday, November 28th, at 12 a.m. to 4 p.m.   Services have been prepared for this Friday, November 29th, 2013 at St. Michael’s Parish Church, 5882 N. Ashley Lane in Stockton.  The rosary will begin at 11:00am, with the funeral service to follow.  Ann has asked that friends and loved ones please forgo flowers in lieu of donations for Hospice House of San Joaquin, who lovingly tended to her in her final days. 

Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin
Thursday, November 28, 2013