Dolores Guillermina Valenzuela Garcia was born the tenth of eleven children on November 10, 1938, in the Sonoran city of Navojoa, Mexico.   Dolores -- affectionately called "Mina" by her family and friends -- was especially adored by her mother Carmen Garcia de Valenzuela, and her three brothers and seven sisters.  Mina received her first Holy Communion on Saint Joseph's Day -- March 19th -- along with the rest of her brothers and sisters in a long, Garcia family tradition, and remained a lifelong, devout Roman Catholic.   From an early age, Mina quickly became a family treasure of the sprawling Valenzuela Garcia clan with her loving, selfless and kind nature, and above all, with her unique and raucously, hilarious sense of humor.  After moving to Los Angeles, California in the 1970s to join her three sisters Carmen Emeterio, Pita Slater, and Elsa Lourdes Slinsky, Mina worked in the family restaurant, also caring for her many nieces and nephews, and later in the Motion Picture Industry as an "extra" actress along with her sisters Carmen and Elsa.  Mina's most famous work was in the hit television show "The Gilmore Girls" which is still televised today. Mina was the proud and generous godmother to many of her nieces and nephews, and never failed in attending the many birthdays, holidays, graduations and wedding.   In 2021, Mina joined her sister Elsa in moving to South Florida, where she enjoyed her retirement and continued to be the joy of the family.   On May 19, 2024, Mina passed away at 85 years of age surrounded by her family in Florida.   She is survived by her sisters Maria Teresa Valenzuela Garcia and Elsa Lourdes Slinsky, as well as her many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.   Her memory will always be cherished and remembered by the many generations of her family as the most generous, humorous and beautiful person they had ever met.  A funeral mass will be held at 11a.m. on June 4, 2024 at Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church in Parkland, Florida.

Services for Dolores are in the care of Coral Springs Funeral Home. Please share your memories or leave your condolences to her family with this online guestbook.