Anita Rey Duran's Obituary
Anita R. Duran was born on July 29, 1938 to Maria Ornelas and Tomas Rey. She was the oldest of 4, with three younger brothers Tomas, Gabriel and Pete. In her youth she lived in Buttonwillow and later moved to the Di Giorgio/Arvin/Lamont, California area.
Anita attended Arvin High School where she eventually started dating her high school sweetheart and future husband Raul Duran. After Anita and Raul graduated from Arvin High School in 1956, they enrolled and attended Bakersfield Junior College together until Raul enrolled in the Air Force in 1958.
On December 27, 1959, during one of Raul’s trips home, Anita and Raul got married in Arvin, Ca. Anita then traveled with Raul in their Air Force life as she supported his career and took on the role as stay at home mom to their 5 children. Tricia in 1960, Tessie in 1962 and Roxanne in 1963 were all born in Louisiana. In 1966, the Air Force sent them to Omaha, Nebraska where she birthed two more kids; Debbie in 1967 and Raul in 1968.
As a dedicated Mother of an Air Force Family, Anita was consistently charged with staying behind to make sure all affairs were in order after Raul was transferred to each of his locations. Throughout the 30 years plus of Air Force transfers, she stayed behind to pack household belongings, ensure the safe transfer of all items and most importantly to wait for her children to finish out a school year to try and lessen the blow of “moving to a new school again”.
Her time as a stay at home mom did not keep her from being involved in many activities. She supported all four of her daughters in “door to door” girls scout cookie sales and was a den mom for her son in Cub Scouts. Her and Raul rarely missed a sporting activity from any of their children and continued to attend games that their grandchildren became involved in later on. In fact, attending any and all games, recitals, banquets, shows etc. of children and grandchildren was a given for both Anita and Raul.
Attending sporting events was not the limit to Anita’s involvement in athletics. She was a part of a bowling league for several years and even gained the honor of “Triple Pin Crown” in an important tournament. Additionally, she excelled in softball. Her hitting was a “bat to be reckoned with”, and opposing teams tended to back up when she came to the plate. Tennis was also a sport Anita participated in and enjoyed. Her and Raul would play together quite frequently, and inspired others in the family to take up the sport as well.
In 1980 when the family returned stateside Anita began her work as a paralegal with Inland Counties Legal Services. Anita’s passions outside of work, included her dedication to the Catholic Church, family trips to Vegas, and her overall love of singing. In fact, she was always bursting into song lyrics based on something that was said in her presence and singing lullabies to her grandchildren.
Anita and Raul celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary in December of 2015 and since Rauls’ passing in 2016, she mostly enjoyed spending time with her family.
She goes to join her husband Raul and her daughter Tessie Duran Bonnell and leaves behind her son, daughters and their spouses, Tricia Duran, Roxanne Galarza, Debbie Muniz and Raul & Irma Duran. She also leaves her 10 grandchildren and spouses; Anthony Abrego, Kristopher & Melina Galarza, Jovi & Lucy Galarza, Brittany & Cody Kennedy, Toni & Ruben Gasca, Crysta Galarza, Brianna Duran, Alyssa & Mitchell Mathes, Daniel Duran, and Shelby Muniz. She is also survived by her six great-grandchildren, Nicholas Morales-Delgado, Evalinda and Jonathan Galarza and Vivienne, Levi and David Kennedy.
A Visitation will be held on Thursday, November 3 from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm at Bobbitt Memorial Chapel in San Bernardino. A Rosary will be held on Friday, November 4 at 11:00 am at Our Lady of Hope Church (Del Rosa Location), with a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:30 am. Anita will be laid to rest at Our Lady Queen of Peace Cemetery at 1:30 pm in Colton.
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