This was originally published Wednesday, October 31, 1984, News-Enterprise, Page 11, when the city was celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Rancho Los Alamitos [which was technically incorrect, since it was Ranchos Los Nietos which received a Spanish grant in 1784; Alamitos wasn’t formed until Nietos was divided in the 1830’s. But why let details and accuracy get in the way of a good celebration?] The article is somewhat romantic — with the author’s perceptions and interpretations of history taking front stage ahead of the subject’s own memories and details — but it still offers insights into early Los Alamitos. It is also interesting in that it again denotes Jalisco as the original location for many of the immigrant laborers to the Southern California sugar fields in the early 20th century.
A portrait of Porfidia Franco de Lopez, 100
By Lucy “Ariel” Rojo
This year the people of Los Alamitos commemorate the 200 anniversary of the founding of Rancho Los Alamitos.
In the year 1784, Don Manuel Nieto was granted the land between the Santa Ana and San Gabriel Rivers (During flood season, these rivers would often change courses. At the time of the grant, the San Gabriel used to empty where the Los Angeles River now empties on the west side of Long Beach, and the Santa Ana River used to drain into Anaheim Bay in the Bolsa Chica wetlands.) and the history of Los Alamitos began.
The community will bring back the past with all itys splendor and nostalgia and blend it into the future with a wonder of prosperity and growth.
For this reason the Bicentennial will be a good occasion to remember people who have and will continue to contribute to make this area a balanced community.
Among those citizens is Mrs. Porfidia Franco de Lopez, 100 years old. She represents the past, present and future of this city. She was an immigrant who arrived at the turn of the century in Rancho Los Alamitos with her husband and two small children.
They fled from the 1910 Mexican Revolution; they carried memories of the days when Generals Carranza and Obregon killed and destroyed their relatives and homes. They wanted to forget the horror and start a new life in America.
Mrs. Lopez was young, petite and eager to learn and adapt to this new culture and way of life.
In 1914 Mr. and Mrs. Lopez with their first two children, decided that Los Alamitos was the ideal, small rural town where they would like to live and raise a family. “It looked almost like Tepatican, Jalisco [Jalisco is located on the central west coast of Mexico. Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara are the best known cities in the state. Tepatican is located about 50 miles east of Guadalajara.] where I was born and grew up,” says Mrs. Lopez.
It was also the place of the sugar beet factory where her husband worked for 35 years, until he retired. [Ed. note — Since the Los Al factory closed in the mid 1920s, did he move over to one of the Huntington Beach sugar factories where the Los Al area crops were then sent, or did he stay on and work at the factory when Dr. Ross operated it?.)
Mr. Lopez built a house on Walnut Street with the railroad ties and bricks qwhich he bought from the old lumber yard for $30. Mrs. Lopez remembers the total cost of her little white house as $700. Mrs. Lopez still lives in the same little white house at 10881 Walnut Street.
“My other seven children were born in that house, and from our nine children I got twenty three grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren. Those were years of taking care of the family, running from PTA meetings to church services,” Mrs. Lopez said.
“I never learned how to drive or fill out papers for my children or myself. Everything was taken care of by my husband. You can just imagine how I felt when he died in 1967,” she mentioned.
When Mrs. Lopez arrived in Los Alamitos in 1914, the main street was Reagan and the post office was in a store where all the people who worked at the sugar facory bought groceries and goods. The children were familiar with the dirt roads on the way to school.
Candy and magazines cost a penny in those days. Mr. Lopez used to buy 100 pounds of sugar for three dollars. With the idea of a strong community, Jim Whilkes, who was Mr. Lopez’ foreman, gathered the families at Laurel School for civic and social events.
Another place of remembrance where most of the Lopez family searched for peace, in times of joy or trouble, was the church. Years later Saint Isidore’s Church became the site of controversy when foreign-born parishioners, most of them of Mexican descent, didn’t want interference from Rossmoor. Their idea was to have only one church of worship for people from Los Alamitos and Rossmoor — thus, Saint Isidore’s never merged with any other church.
Then came the time when the three Lopez boys finished high school. They decided to join the army. Ventura, the oldest son fought in World War II as a parachutist in Germany and Japan [were there parachutists in Japan?]. From East to West, the Lopez brothers sent notes and pictures to their parents. Mrs. Lopez in return sent them small pictures of the lady of Guadalupe. She remembers with pleasure: “When my son Ventura, who was 6-3 tall, heavy-framed and one o the best paratroopers, used to jump, he yelled “please, Lady, help me. Please, Lady of Guadalupe, help me.”
He realized that he was in one of the most dangerous missions on the European front. There’s no doubt that he grew up to have faith, patriotism, and love for his country,” his proud mother said.
With this remark, that show how much Mrs. Lopez misses the old times. She concluded: “Now days everything and everywhere has changed; where is the small town that almost looked like Tepatican— it is gone for good.”
Today, Mrs. Lopez still seems to be in full command of her life; she is healthy and well groomed. She enjoys the company of friends and family, and her mind is as alert and sharp as it was 100 years ago.
Porfidia Franco was born on January 26, 1884 and has lived in Los Alamitos for more than 70 years. She remembers when buggies were in style on Los Alamitos Blvd., and Reagan Streets, and Laurel School at Los Alamitos and Katella where all her children attended.
With the vision of that landscape scenery, she blends those memories and the family circle of Jalisco, with the pain of loneliness of the separation, but her reaction is positive into the future when she says: “I missed for many years the old country, my eleven brothers and sisters, the moral ethics and strong faith of my people, but I learned a long time ago to love this country as my own. I will probably be buried in this soil.”
Mrs. Porfidia Franco de Lopez is not the only immigrant in this town who will be part of the rich soil in years to come. There are hundreds of citizens that will be giving afoorts, talents and ultimately their spirit of community to make this bicentennial celebration the best tribute and example for future generations who will be living and caring for the city as Mrs. Lopez did throughout her life.