Former mayor's mother shares her passion for education
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| Although Guadalupe Viveros was unable to complete her education, she found joy in teaching her husband to read and teaching her six children. Valerie Nevens/The Post |
By Rogue Morales
Parlier Post Correspondent
Guadalupe Viveros loved school and valued education.
However, the Parlier woman’s experience with education ended before it barely began. When she was in the fourth grade at a school in Mexico, her father yanked her from her classes, wanting no part in her desire to become a teacher.
Although Guadalupe, 92, never formally became a teacher, her dream was realized when she was able to teach her husband how to read and write. Her children also looked to her for guidance, support and as an example to learn from.
“She said her responsibility was to give me good morals to be a good person,” said her son, George Viveros. “She said to have respect but to also have courage, to have goals and to fulfill them. She always set a good example.”
Guadalupe was a strict mother, yet supportive. She emphasized self-discipline to her children and explained that without discipline, one could never accomplish their goals. This she also taught by example.
“Thick and thin, she was there for us,” said Arcardio Viveros, another of Guadalupe’s other sons. “She carried the household, that’s what I remember. She was very strong.”
George Viveros said both his father and mother encouraged him and his siblings to go to school, but his mother was the one who really pushed for it. Even while other families were pulling their children from high school to work, Guadalupe was adamant that they stay in school.
“When we accomplished something, she looked like the happiest woman in the world,” George Viveros said. “We were so proud and she would be so happy for us.”
Besides George and Arcardio, Guadalupe had four other children: Teresa, Mario, Raul and Faviola.
Mario went on to UC Davis where he received his bachelor’s and master’s in agriculture. Raul went to UC Santa Cruz where he received his bachelor’s and later went on to San Francisco State University where he earned a master’s degree. Arcardio went on to graduate from Fresno State and later became the first elected mayor of Parlier in 1982 and served for 13 years.
Viveros was born in the city of Panindicuaro in Michoacan, Mexico to Ignacio Aguenega and Maria Hernandez. She was the third born and had six siblings total.
“She said she was always hungry to learn,” George Viveros said. “School was the only place able to give that.”
At age 18, Guadalupe met her husband in the town she grew up in. When the couple was young they decided to elope, her son Arcardio Viveros said. The custom of the time was for the young woman to stay with a friend or family member until the time of the wedding. Instead of waiting, the two left the city and got married one town over.
“She told us she was so scared of her father,” Arcardio said. Jesus Viveros used to joke with Guadalupe that she was the one who stole him since the night the two of them planned to elope, in her fear she ran faster than he did from the house.
Jesus Viveros came to the United States looking for work with the braceros, a program created by the United States government to enlist labor from Mexico to assist Americans in the West. With her husband gone, Guadalupe was left to raise her family alone.
“When my father was a bracero she became our mother and our father,” George said. “She did this for 10 years. She was always taking care of everybody.”
Throughout her time in Mexico with her children, Guadalupe tried to keep her children enrolled in schools. Even when the family moved to Mexico City and later to Sonora, she tried to keep her children involved with education.
Keeping the family going was no easy task and in the months when her husband could not send money due to lack of work, Guadalupe showed her skills as an entrepreneur.
Guadalupe was a very talented seamstress, Arcardio said. She would use clothing catalogs for ideas and mimicthe patterns just from looking at the picture. Her customers sometimes selected dresses and shirts they wanted from the catalogs and she would make them as a means of extra income. She also raised pigs and grew produce to sell at the market.
“She was always thinking of ways to make extra money,” Arcardio said.
Not all of her plans worked out, however. While living in Mexico City, Guadalupe tried making the sweet dish gelatin. She bought all the equipment and ingredients and once she completed her desserts, her sons would try to sell them. However, they looked so bad that no one wanted to buy them.
“I felt so bad,” George said, “They were so ugly and tasted so bad!” He laughed at the memory along with his mother who merely scrunched up her face at the mention of the failed desserts.
After many years of struggling, the family was able to immigrate to the United States. Jesus Viveros gained citizenship with the help of an employer he met through the bracero program. After he became a citizen, he was able to bring his family over in 1962. Eventually the Viveros family found their way to Parlier, where they settled down.
Nowadays Guadalupe spends her time taking it easy watering her plants or going to the senior center. She still regularly attends Mass and reads. Even though her husband passed away five years ago, she still prefers to live independently. When she goes to visit her children or her 26 grandchildren, she finds herself eager to get home. When asked to stay, she declines.
“You’re father left me in that house and I want to be there,” she would answer them. “Maybe your father is waiting there for me.”
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