Obituaries : Genevieve Marie Sosa; Heartbroken by Tragedy

Genevieve Marie Sosa, an Oxnard woman whose daughter died last year in a car accident, has died of a heart attack. She was 42.

Sosa’s sister, Rita Diaz, said Genevieve never recovered from the death of her oldest daughter. She visited Gina’s grave three times a week and talked constantly about her.

“She just couldn’t let go,” said Rita Diaz. “Nobody could help her. A broken heart is a broken heart.”

Sosa was born in Oxnard on Oct. 20, 1953. She graduated from Buena High School, took her first job, married husband Edward at age 25, and began raising her four daughters in Oxnard. When her youngest turned 11, she took a job as a cashier at a local gas station.

The last months of her life were marred by tragedy.

At age 18, Gina moved out of the house to seek her independence. Sosa--who was known to take in runaway children and pregnant teenagers and provide them with parental guidance--worried that her own daughter would fall prey to the wrong crowd.

On May 20 of last year, Gina, a former Port Hueneme High School basketball player, died when her pickup truck veered into an oncoming car. She was 20, and her death plunged Sosa into despair.

“I think she has suffered from all the things she wished she had said when Gina was alive,” Diaz said.

Sosa is survived by her husband, Edward R. Sosa of Oxnard; three daughters, Geanette, Gennifer and Cecilia of Oxnard; her father, Miguel Diaz of Oxnard; six sisters, Chummie Tinoco, Lia, Veronica, Florence Cerda, Rita, and Boo Boo, all of Oxnard; and three brothers, Jorge of Oxnard, Joseph of Tacoma, Wash., and Armondo of Santa Barbara.

Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday at the James A. Reardon Mortuary in Oxnard. A vigil will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Santa Clara Catholic Church. A service will be held at the church at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.