Mary Lou Requejo passed away on June 9, 2013, after a prolonged illness. Born Maria Luisa Perez de Requejo on August 28, 1924, to parents Juanita Perez and Jose Inez Requejo, both from Coahulia,Torreon, Mexico, her journey began. She was 88 years old.

After the passing of her mother, Mary Lou came to the United States as a young woman and lived in Carpinteria with her aunt, Refugio Perez de Escareno. She worked for a few years at the Carpinteria Lemon Packing house. She saved her money to later enroll herself at the Santa Barbara Beauty Academy, and after one year received her beautician certificate.

She later moved with a family friend, Lucy Curial, to Los Angeles to find work. The very first beauty shop that she went into looking for a job, hired her on the spot. Over the next 10 years Mary Lou worked at the same salon, building up her clientele.

A savvy businesswoman, she became interested in running her own business and opening up her own hair salon. Soon after she was able to open up her own shop and her clientele followed her. At a time when single women were seen as homemakers first and breadwinners last, Mary Lou was able to break the cycle and hold her own in the business world, which afforded the ability to purchase her home in Carpinteria. Once retired, Mary Lou returned to Carpinteria to live in her home and volunteered her time to her church, assisting in different capacities.

Mary Lou would spend the next 10 years working and traveling back and forth to Torreon and Carpinteria to visit with her family. A survivor, Mary Lou dedicated her life to her brothers and sisters. She leaves behind her sole surviving brother, Ricardo Requejo. Her brother, Romualdo Requejo, and sisters Margarita Soto and Juanita Lomeli preceded her in death. Not having married or having had any children of her own, she surrounded herself with many nephews and nieces.

Mary Lou’s journey has come to an end but her fighting spirit will live on in our hearts and in our minds. God Bless you LuLu … know that the family loved you and will miss you dearly. Rest in Peace.

Services will be held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 1532 Linden Avenue in Carpinteria, at 10 a.m. Friday, June 14. Following mass services, there will be a procession to the Carpinteria Cemetery, 1501 Cravens Lane, where Mary Lou will be laid to rest. A reception will follow to honor Mary Lou, at Carpinteria Community Church, 1111 Vallecito Road.

Funeral services are by Welch-Ryce-Haider Funeral Chapels.