Hortencia Martinez De Peña passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Tucson, Arizona, surrounded by her husband, her son, her sisters, and her nieces and nephews.

Hortencia was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. She moved from Mexico to California in search of a better economic future and to help support her family back home. In the mid-1970s, she began working as a field worker at a flower-cutting nursery in Union City, California. She married in California, where she and her husband made their home in San Leandro, in the San Francisco Bay Area, for 30 years. It was there, in 1986, that she welcomed her only child, a son who would remain the center of her world. In her later years, Hortencia moved to Tucson, Arizona, to be closer to her family.

Hortencia went on to dedicate much of her career to caring for others. In the early 1980s, she worked as a Nurse Assistant, helping and comforting the elderly, before completing computer training in the 1990s and early 2000s and going on to work as a bilingual translator for the Oakland Unified School District.

Hortencia was a woman of deep faith who found joy and peace attending church every Sunday. Her love for God led her to become a minister, evangelizing in her community and teaching those who did not yet know Christ so that they could come to the Lord and find salvation. She joined a ministry school in Tucson, where she received her formal education and training to become an evangelist.

She had a true passion for travel and for discovering new places. In Arizona, she loved visiting Madera Canyon, Mount Lemmon, Overgaard, and Mesa. In California, she enjoyed trips to Los Angeles, Disneyland, and destinations throughout Northern California. She also traveled to Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, and cherished trips back to Mexico, visiting Rocky Point, Guaymas, and Bahía de Kino. She loved walking along the beach and the beauty of the sea, and she filled her home with cherished decorations and mementos collected from all the places she had visited, each one a reminder of a memory she held close.

Hortencia is survived by her husband; her son and daughter-in-law; her two grandchildren; her three sisters and two brothers; and her ten nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved dearly.

Hortencia will be remembered for her warmth, her faith, her love of adventure, her devotion to her family, her dedication to hard work, and her honesty. She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.