The heart of Sofía Barragán de la Luz stopped beating at 5 a.m. in an Omaha hospital, stopped by COVID-19.
Ms. Sofía, a woman who never tired of learning, was born in Chietethlan, a Mexican town in Guerrero. There she married Agustín Vargas Ayala and they had four sons and one daughter, now adults.
In Omaha, she studied at the Latino Center of the Midlands and Completely Kids – a kindergarten that offers adult classes – and got the education she had missed as a girl. She was still taking high school classes when she passed.
Her daughter Celsa tested postive for COVID-19 in May. Sofía caught it as well. “We went one day to see her on the fourth day of hospitalization. She looked bad, she’d already had a heart attack,” Celsa said. Sofía was intubated, sedated and didn’t notice anything, nor did she feel pain as she left.
Sofía’s remains were moved to Mexico with the financial assistance of the Latino Center of the Midlands. She left a void in many hearts that she illuminated with her songs and smiles.