Festivals celebrating Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) have ended, but in the San Fernando Valley, there’s still one more event later this week at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
This annual event at the Catholic cemetery located in Mission Hills on Nov. 7 is one of the largest in the Northeast Valley. Hundreds of people attend, many dressed as elaborate Catrinas and their faces painted as calaveras (skulls). People view the many ofrendas (altars) and talk to families who share stories about the lives of their loved ones who have passed.
The event is impressive, with large-sized calaveras at the entrance; people arrive wearing traditional clothing from Mexico. There is live music, food vendors and stage performances.
Among those who plan to attend are members of the Ramirez family, including Jose Luis and his wife, Norma. They’ve both attended the event before, but only as visitors.
This year is different, as the family gathered at the cemetery last weekend on the holiday Nov. 1 to honor Jose’s father, 88-year-old Fidel Ramirez Mejia. The much-loved patriarch of their family passed away last June and was buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
The couple, with other members of the Ramirez family, covered Fidel’s graveside in bright orange cempazúschil (marigold) flowers, as an ofrenda, as traditionally done in Mexico.
Fidel’s youngest daughter, Raquel Valadez, suggested the family gathering to the couple, who had often set up ofrendas at home, but this would be their first time to set one up at a cemetery.
Over 30 family members came together on the holiday, including Fidel’s widow, Marcaria, with her nine children and their spouses, grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
In addition to the dozens of flowers, they included his favorite Chivas soccer cap he wore every time he watched their games. The Chivas team was close to Fidel’s birthplace near Guadalajara. The family took their time together placing a framed photo of him and plenty of his favorite fruit, including avocados, vegetables and beans and protected the altar with a decorative border of colorful, carefully cut tissue paper known as papel picado. As part of the ritual, they burned copal incense.
“We built this beautiful altar in honor of him,” said Norma. “We had a picnic. We had tamales, coffee, pan [bread]. Everybody had a big smile and was sharing their memories of Fidel. He was a pillar in our family.
“He was a great man who lived by great values,” she continued. “Most of the family are professionals and educators. The grandchildren are also very successful, and we owe it all to Fidel, who lived by example and the values of hard work, honesty and he encouraged education.”
Jose, the eldest of Fidel’s offspring, has participated in many Día de los Muertos events at Los Angeles Mission College, where he worked for many years as a counselor helping students with their goals and university applications. Now retired, he thinks the upcoming cemetery event could be the start of a new family tradition.
“At the end of the completion of the altar, everyone said a word about [my father],” said Jose Luis. “Because there are so many relatives who rest at Mission Cemetery, as well as former students of mine, one of the things that really touched me was visiting with family members. It was difficult, but it was also moving to share memories for all of us who were present at the gravesite ofrenda.”
As the oldest and very close to his father, he is still in mourning along with his mother and other family members, but facing the pain through this shared tradition provided comfort.
Creating the ofrenda for the youngermembers of the family was a learning experience and they are continuing the tradition so that it is handed down.
Jose and Norma are also determined to keep the celebration as “organic as possible.” They see the tradition becoming more commercialized in recent years, especially after the release of the Disney movie “Coco” with character dolls and marketing with commercial products.
People buy items made in China and use paper and plastic flowers instead of real marigold flowers. Worse, as the tradition is popularized, those who are not culturally educated merge and confuse Halloween with Dia de los Muertos, which has nothing in common.
Dia de los Muertos isn’t scary, it embraces death as a natural cycle of life not to be feared.
The building of an altar is spiritual, reverent and respectful, and can be meditative as you think of your loved one and place the items that have meaning reflecting lives in the physical world. This ancient indigenous practice keeps families close to their “antepasados”(ancestors).
“We want our kids, nephews and nieces to learn about the vocabulary, symbols and meaning,” said Norma. “It’s important for us to keep it as traditional as we can.”
“Through building altars, we keep the memories alive,” Norma continued. “It’s important for our kids to know about their roots and their culture … by showing them how rich we are in our traditions.”
San Fernando Mission Cemetery is located at 11160 Stranwood Ave. in Mission Hills. The event will begin at 12 p.m. on Nov. 7 with a Mass and a blessing of the altars. The celebration starts at 1:30 p.m. and will end at 6 p.m.