Pedrina Villalobos, housekeeper, babysitter and maker of 'food for the soul,' dies at 70
Pedrina Villalobos, "mamanina" of Oyster Bay, died Nov. 14. Credit: Sophie Mejia
Almost everyone called her "mamanina," and Pedrina Villalobos acted as the mother, first in war-torn El Salvador and then on bountiful Long Island, her family said.
Her way of mothering was presenting her home-cooked deliciousness — cheese and pork-filled pupusas, tortillas, chicken soup — not just to family but neighbors and anybody else around, relatives said. It was uncanny how the former housekeeper and babysitter appeared with food just as family members returned tired from work and didn’t feel like cooking, they said.
"It was like food for the soul," said daughter Maribel Molina, of Oyster Bay.
On a day when Villalobos was so happy looking after her neighbor’s baby, she suffered a heart emergency and fell in her Oyster Bay apartment, her family said.
She was taken to a hospital, where she died on Nov. 14 at age 70, weeks before she and her boyfriend of 26 years, Francisco "Chico" Morales of Oyster Bay, were due to marry in his native Honduras.
"She was just a very sassy lady, really expressive, no poker face," said granddaughter Nathalie Mejia, of Lubbock, Texas. "She was just very unabashedly herself, very caring ... Her whole entire life, she was just taking care of people, everywhere around her."
One of six girls, Villalobos grew up poor in a rural area of El Salvador and became the housekeeper and babysitter for a wealthy family when she was about 13, her daughter said.
Her employers paid for her cooking lessons so she could prepare meals for them, and she loved it, Molina said. But sometimes the children she babysat would run to her for hugs and comfort instead of their parents, leading to "mean" words from jealous employers, recounted Molina, who at a young age accompanied her mother to housekeeping jobs.
Villalobos had married at 17 or so to a young man whom she met while they both worked and rode buses in the same area; they divorced about five years later after four children.
It took her mother 10 years to save enough to rent an apartment for herself and her four children in El Salvador, Molina recalled.
At that time warring left-wing guerrillas and the army sometimes took refuge in her family’s home, grilling everyone about whose side they were on, family members said.
Molina remembers seeing the fear in her mother’s face as she insisted she was neutral.
"She gives us hugs and said everything is going to be OK, don’t worry, she always will take care of us," Molina remembers.
Villalobos rarely talked much about those difficult times to the younger generations, a period when her father was killed in fighting between the two sides, Mejia said: "I just don’t think she wanted to burden anybody with the sadness of her life ... because she never wanted anybody to pity her."
In 1996, in her early 40s, Villalobos immigrated to Long Island, living with her son in Bayville, in a home filled with more than what she was used to in El Salvador.
"She loved to live in what was the city for her," Molina said.
To walk anywhere without fear of being killed — Villalobos liked the freedom of going to the beach, the park, food shopping and clothes-hunting, her family said. She continued working as a housekeeper and babysitter, rarely speaking English but understanding more than she let on, relatives said.
A couple years after her arrival, she met Morales, a co-worker of her granddaughter’s father. Although Morales was about a decade younger, the two clicked: both single transplants from Central America, both far from fluent in English, relatives said.
"She was alone for so many years," Molina said. "They had each other and they can go places so they’re not alone."
In addition to her daughter and granddaughter, survivors include children Mario Jaco, Rosa Maria Villalobos and Consuelo Zavala, all of Glen Cove, and three sisters, Native Villalobos, Gregoria Villalobos and Munda Villalobos, all in El Salvador.
A Mass was celebrated Nov. 19 at St. Patrick Church in Glen Cove, followed by burial at East Hillside Cemetery in Glen Head.
Almost everyone called her "mamanina," and Pedrina Villalobos acted as the mother, first in war-torn El Salvador and then on bountiful Long Island, her family said.
Her way of mothering was presenting her home-cooked deliciousness — cheese and pork-filled pupusas, tortillas, chicken soup — not just to family but neighbors and anybody else around, relatives said. It was uncanny how the former housekeeper and babysitter appeared with food just as family members returned tired from work and didn’t feel like cooking, they said.
"It was like food for the soul," said daughter Maribel Molina, of Oyster Bay.
On a day when Villalobos was so happy looking after her neighbor’s baby, she suffered a heart emergency and fell in her Oyster Bay apartment, her family said.
She was taken to a hospital, where she died on Nov. 14 at age 70, weeks before she and her boyfriend of 26 years, Francisco "Chico" Morales of Oyster Bay, were due to marry in his native Honduras.
"She was just a very sassy lady, really expressive, no poker face," said granddaughter Nathalie Mejia, of Lubbock, Texas. "She was just very unabashedly herself, very caring ... Her whole entire life, she was just taking care of people, everywhere around her."
One of six girls, Villalobos grew up poor in a rural area of El Salvador and became the housekeeper and babysitter for a wealthy family when she was about 13, her daughter said.
Her employers paid for her cooking lessons so she could prepare meals for them, and she loved it, Molina said. But sometimes the children she babysat would run to her for hugs and comfort instead of their parents, leading to "mean" words from jealous employers, recounted Molina, who at a young age accompanied her mother to housekeeping jobs.
Villalobos had married at 17 or so to a young man whom she met while they both worked and rode buses in the same area; they divorced about five years later after four children.
It took her mother 10 years to save enough to rent an apartment for herself and her four children in El Salvador, Molina recalled.
At that time warring left-wing guerrillas and the army sometimes took refuge in her family’s home, grilling everyone about whose side they were on, family members said.
Molina remembers seeing the fear in her mother’s face as she insisted she was neutral.
"She gives us hugs and said everything is going to be OK, don’t worry, she always will take care of us," Molina remembers.
Villalobos rarely talked much about those difficult times to the younger generations, a period when her father was killed in fighting between the two sides, Mejia said: "I just don’t think she wanted to burden anybody with the sadness of her life ... because she never wanted anybody to pity her."
In 1996, in her early 40s, Villalobos immigrated to Long Island, living with her son in Bayville, in a home filled with more than what she was used to in El Salvador.
"She loved to live in what was the city for her," Molina said.
To walk anywhere without fear of being killed — Villalobos liked the freedom of going to the beach, the park, food shopping and clothes-hunting, her family said. She continued working as a housekeeper and babysitter, rarely speaking English but understanding more than she let on, relatives said.
A couple years after her arrival, she met Morales, a co-worker of her granddaughter’s father. Although Morales was about a decade younger, the two clicked: both single transplants from Central America, both far from fluent in English, relatives said.
"She was alone for so many years," Molina said. "They had each other and they can go places so they’re not alone."
In addition to her daughter and granddaughter, survivors include children Mario Jaco, Rosa Maria Villalobos and Consuelo Zavala, all of Glen Cove, and three sisters, Native Villalobos, Gregoria Villalobos and Munda Villalobos, all in El Salvador.
A Mass was celebrated Nov. 19 at St. Patrick Church in Glen Cove, followed by burial at East Hillside Cemetery in Glen Head.
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