Alicia Salinas Ayala, a parishioner of St. Lucy Church in the City Terrace area of East Los Angeles and board member of AltaMed Health Services Corporation, has been named the 58th recipient of the Mexican Mother of the Year Award.

Her selection continues a long tradition of honoring mothers of Mexican descent begun in 1951. This celebration of motherhood and community service was launched by Consuelo de Bonzo, owner of La Golondrina Restaurant at Olvera Street and founder of the Franciscan Guild, a group of Catholic women now known as the Mexican Mother of the Year Association based at St. Mary Church in Boyle Heights.

The daughter of Maria del Refugio Gomez of Sonora, Mexico, and Jose S. Salinas of Monterey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Alicia Salinas Ayala was born in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of First Street and Evergreen Street more than seven decades ago. At the age of two, Alicia's family relocated to Cananea, Sonora, Mexico where she received her primary education.

When she was five, the death of her father left her mother caring for three very young daughters: Alicia, Ofelia and Bertha. The Salinas family returned to Los Angeles when Alicia was 15. While she continued her education at Stevenson Junior High and Roosevelt and Central high schools, she also went to work to help her mother support the family.

Alicia married Rodrigo Ayala who became a successful newspaperman at La Opinion in Los Angeles. Their 44-year marriage was blessed with two sons: Rodrigo and Raul. Rodrigo has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for many years and Raul is a successful criminal lawyer in Los Angeles.

A woman of deep devotion to the Sacred Heart, Alicia was committed to the value of higher education. She and her husband sacrificed to give their sons a Catholic education at Santa Isabel School and Salesian High School. Raul later graduated from Pomona College in Claremont and earned a degree at the University of California Hastings College of Law.

Now a widow of 14 years, Alicia is a grandmother of five and still lives in the house where her sons grew up. She has been a resident of City Terrace for 47 years and is a member of St Lucy's Church choir.

For more than 20 years, Alicia has served as a passionate advocate and dedicated volunteer in various community organizations and causes. She was a pioneer facilitator and instructor in preventive health education for the Spanish-speaking community through Santa Marta Hospital in East Los Angeles and community groups convened at St. Lucy's, St. Alphonsus and Our Lady of Soledad parishes.

She has served as a peer mentor at AltaMed Senior Buena Care Center and has served on the AltaMed Health Services board of directors for the past six years as a consumer representative. She serves on both the Air Quality Management Committee and legislative and Advocacy Committee for the agency. Her participation in community town halls has made her a strong advocate for preserving services and affordable health care for seniors.

Alicia has received more than a dozen awards and certificates of recognition for her contributions to numerous local health and education programs at local schools and community centers.

Notified of her selection as the 2009 Mexican Mother of the Year, Alicia said that she was very undeserving of the honor but would accept it in the name of the many faceless and nameless mothers in her community for whom she has advocated and who she has represented these many years. She considers herself to be primarily a caregiver for the sick and elderly and hopes to live to be 100 because there is so much work to be done.

A traditional Mariachi Mass will be celebrated May 2, 11 a.m. at St. Mary Church in Boyle Heights, followed by a reception and luncheon in Alicia's honor in the parish hall. For luncheon reservations, call the Mexican Mother of the Year Association, (626) 285-8852 or (323) 722-4275.