- Date Of Birth: January 21, 1919
- Date Of Death: April 8, 2012
- State: Idaho
Surrounded by her loving family, Aurora Amorebieta, 93, of Boise passed away peacefully on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012 at her home of natural causes.
Aurora was born January 21, 1919 in Morton, Wyoming to Modesto Barquin and Leonarda Torre. Aurora was the oldest of eight children. Her father came to the United States at the age of 18 and found work building railroads, later establishing his own ranch. He later brought Aurora’s mother Leonarda to Wyoming.
Aurora spent her first years on her father’s sheep ranch near a Native American reservation. When Aurora was eleven years old, the whole family moved to the Basque country settling in Gernika. The Great Depression had begun and farming was not providing enough money to support the family. Her father, Modesto bought a fabric shop and a wine store in the town of Gernika. Aurora attended school in Gernika and at the age of 15, Aurora learned how to sew and helped her parents in the store. Eventually, sewing became her livelihood and her hobby.
While living in Gernika, Aurora experienced the Civil War in Spain. During an air raid her family watched as their house and her parents shop were destroyed by the German bombing. Her parents then rebuilt and opened a bodega on the ground floor of the house. Despite this tragic event, Aurora opened a tailor shop in Gernika and started to teach her sisters and other women her knowledge of sewing.
Aurora met her husband Jose at the train depot in Gernika while he was on vacation from the army. Jose and Aurora dated for three years before they later married at the Basilica de Pagonia in Bilbao on January 15, 1944. They moved into their first apartment on the street Asilo Calthada and later moved to a larger apartment above the Bar Azul as the family grew larger. During their marriage, they had three children, Lou, Consuelo, and Mary Lou. They enjoyed living in Spain and had many friends there, however in order to provide a better life for their family, Aurora and Jose decided to move to the United States. They traveled on a boat called the Guadalupe to America and arrived in New York City in 1956 where the first thing that they saw was the Statue of Liberty. From New York, they rode a train to Boise because Aurora’s sisters, Mary and Carmen lived there. Three years later they were able to purchase a house near the Capitol building.
Aurora first worked at Mark Jones’s Tailor Shop beneath the Idanha Hotel for two years with her sisters Carmen and Mary.
Aurora then took on an even more important role taking care of many grandchildren, who to this day are extremely close to her.
Aurora always had food prepared for those who came by and her cooking was something all the children and grandchildren tried to learn, but no one could cook as well as her.
Aurora also enjoyed gardening, especially her roses and geraniums. She enjoyed being on her patio, enjoying conversations with relatives with a good cup of coffee.
Aurora is survived by her husband, Jose; by her three children, Lou (Chris) Amorebieta, Consuelo (Dan) Smith, Mary Lou (Dick) Brown; her grandchildren, Randy (Keri) Amorebieta, Kevin (Heather) Amorebieta, Justin (Stephanie) Smith, Aaron Smith, Spenser (Jackie) Smith, Eric (Amy) Brown, Tyler Brown and Jennifer Brown; her great-grandchildren, Kennidi, Lukena and Joe Amorebieta, Sierra, Amaia and Sophia Smith, and Isabella and Lucy Brown.
Aurora was preceded in death by her parents, Modesto Barquin and Leonarda Torre; her sisters, Antonia and Agripina Barquin; her brother, and sister-in-law, Luis and Miren Barquin; and her sister, Mary Martiartu.
The family would like to thank the staff and doctors at St. Luke’s hospital that took such wonderful care of Aurora in her final days and the compassion they showed the family.
