Emilea Castro

Emilea Castro, age 88 of Savanna, Illinois, died on Tuesday, November 24, 2015 at Big Meadows Nursing Home, Savanna. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m., Monday, November 30, 2015 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Savanna with Father Dennis Atto officiating. Burial will take place in St. John’s Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Sunday, November 29, 2015 at Law-Jones Funeral Home, Savanna with a Scripture Wake Service at 4:00 p.m.
Emilea was born November 21, 1927, in Fillmore, California, the daughter of Wenceslado and Emilia (Garcia) Nunez. When she was young, she worked with her father at the family store in Mexico. There she met the love of her life, Manuel Castro, while he was working on a local ranch. Emilea and Manuel were married in September of 1944 in Mexico. The Castro family moved to Savanna as Manuel took a job with the railroad. The first family home in Savanna was a boxcar by the railroad tracks, where Emilea and Manuel began their life in Savanna, raising their seven children. They later moved into a home on Bowen Street. They celebrated 57 years of marriage until Manuel’s death on April 10, 2002.
Besides raising children, Emilea worked at the Sabula Speaker Factory, National Lock and Doc’s Restaurant in Savanna. In 1973, she went to work with her son at Manny’s Pizza. She said, “how about if I come up and do some tacos? If it works, it works.” Today, her tacos and hot sauce are still the favorites at Manny’s Pizza. She enjoyed getting together with family and friends, cooking, listening to Mexican music, and having a meal. You never left her house hungry. Emilea loved her grandkids, and taking yearly trips to California to visit family. She could often be found playing slot machines with a beer in one hand, and a cigarette in the other and always had a smile on her face.
Emilea will be dearly missed by three sons, Manuel (Julia) Castro, Jr. of Savanna, Gabe (Peg) Castro of Savanna, David (Julie) Castro of Dubuque, Iowa; four daughters, Alice Stallings of Savanna, Esther (Frank) Losh of Savanna, Linda (Glen) Simpson of Mt. Carroll, Illinois and Sally Rice and her companion, Tom of Savanna; 28 grandchildren; many great-grandchildren; one brother, Uben Nunez of California; Emilea is preceded in death by her husband, Manuel; two sons-in-law, Lawrence Rice in 1994 and Chuck Stallings in 2008; a granddaughter, Melissa Castro in 2010; a great-grandson, Shawn Miller in 2013; a daughter at birth, Mary Ellen; five brothers, Gabino, Daniel, Antonio, Trino and Abel; one sister, Carmen Maria Dominguez in 2006 and her parents.