Obituary for Maria Antonia Vroman (Alfaro)
Maria Antonia Vroman (Antonia), of Platte City, unexpectedly passed away on February 16, 2023 due to complications of diabetes. She was 70 years old.
Antonia was born on May 5, 1952, to Maria Dominga Alfaro in El Salvador. She met her husband, Richard – a Peace Corps Volunteer from Minnesota, in San Salvador and they married and had two daughters. They fled the civil war of El Salvador in 1979 and settled in San Antonio, Texas where they raised their family for the next twenty years. After becoming empty nesters and entering retirement, they moved back to El Salvador in 1999.
Antonia, or Toñita, as she was known to all those who knew her, was a beloved member of her parish, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Tecla, El Salvador. She occupied most of her free time helping feed the homeless at monthly breakfasts, fundraising activities to benefit her church, ushering, cleaning – whatever help was needed, she selflessly did. She joined a bible study group in her neighborhood and made lifelong friends and learned what seemed like every teaching written in the bible. She was proudest of becoming a member of the Secular Franciscan Order, a Franciscan Family formed by Catholic men and women who seek to observe the gospel of Jesus by following the example of Francis of Assisi. Her friends remember her as having a heart of gold and it’s true. She was a loving and supportive wife until Richard’s passing in June of 2016.
After her health began to decline, she came back to the states to live in Platte City with her daughter and family in August 2019. She enjoyed listening to the daily mass, keeping up on current events in El Salvador, receiving her weekly calls from her sister Herminia, drinking her morning coffee at the dining room table, and watching the wild birds (especially the cardinals) eat from the feeders just outside the windows. She enjoyed going to the thrift stores to find many needed treasures, and keeping busy knitting and crocheting items. She looked forward to watching Judge Judy every day on the television. She loved to attend all her grandkids’ band concerts and sporting events when able and when she wasn’t able to, she proudly watched recordings of them on the television. She looked forward to attending mass on Sundays and receiving holy communion.
She loved all the pets living in the home, but she especially loved Benny the bunny, who welcomed her tight hugs and kisses on top of his head, and she made sure he got his daily lettuce and carrot treat.
She was the best mother her family could have ever hoped for and will be forever in our hearts.
Antonia was predeceased by her mother Dominga and husband Richard Dell Vroman. She is survived by her two sisters, Maria Santos and Maria Herminia of El Salvador, three daughters, Gloria Villegas of Miami, Ana (Anthony) Gentilia of Platte City and Flora Vroman of Leavenworth, ten grandchildren - Oscar, Elizabeth, Nataly, Antonio, Joseph, Christopher, Carmen, Isaac, Joshua G. and Vincent, and six great-grandchildren – Jacob, Joshua P., Alyssa, Aiden, Alessennia and Joel and many nephews and nieces. She loved them with all her heart and kept them all in her daily prayers.
There will be a visitation at 10 a.m. followed by a funeral mass at 11 a.m. on February 23rd at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Weston.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her honor to Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Weston.
Antonia was born on May 5, 1952, to Maria Dominga Alfaro in El Salvador. She met her husband, Richard – a Peace Corps Volunteer from Minnesota, in San Salvador and they married and had two daughters. They fled the civil war of El Salvador in 1979 and settled in San Antonio, Texas where they raised their family for the next twenty years. After becoming empty nesters and entering retirement, they moved back to El Salvador in 1999.
Antonia, or Toñita, as she was known to all those who knew her, was a beloved member of her parish, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Tecla, El Salvador. She occupied most of her free time helping feed the homeless at monthly breakfasts, fundraising activities to benefit her church, ushering, cleaning – whatever help was needed, she selflessly did. She joined a bible study group in her neighborhood and made lifelong friends and learned what seemed like every teaching written in the bible. She was proudest of becoming a member of the Secular Franciscan Order, a Franciscan Family formed by Catholic men and women who seek to observe the gospel of Jesus by following the example of Francis of Assisi. Her friends remember her as having a heart of gold and it’s true. She was a loving and supportive wife until Richard’s passing in June of 2016.
After her health began to decline, she came back to the states to live in Platte City with her daughter and family in August 2019. She enjoyed listening to the daily mass, keeping up on current events in El Salvador, receiving her weekly calls from her sister Herminia, drinking her morning coffee at the dining room table, and watching the wild birds (especially the cardinals) eat from the feeders just outside the windows. She enjoyed going to the thrift stores to find many needed treasures, and keeping busy knitting and crocheting items. She looked forward to watching Judge Judy every day on the television. She loved to attend all her grandkids’ band concerts and sporting events when able and when she wasn’t able to, she proudly watched recordings of them on the television. She looked forward to attending mass on Sundays and receiving holy communion.
She loved all the pets living in the home, but she especially loved Benny the bunny, who welcomed her tight hugs and kisses on top of his head, and she made sure he got his daily lettuce and carrot treat.
She was the best mother her family could have ever hoped for and will be forever in our hearts.
Antonia was predeceased by her mother Dominga and husband Richard Dell Vroman. She is survived by her two sisters, Maria Santos and Maria Herminia of El Salvador, three daughters, Gloria Villegas of Miami, Ana (Anthony) Gentilia of Platte City and Flora Vroman of Leavenworth, ten grandchildren - Oscar, Elizabeth, Nataly, Antonio, Joseph, Christopher, Carmen, Isaac, Joshua G. and Vincent, and six great-grandchildren – Jacob, Joshua P., Alyssa, Aiden, Alessennia and Joel and many nephews and nieces. She loved them with all her heart and kept them all in her daily prayers.
There will be a visitation at 10 a.m. followed by a funeral mass at 11 a.m. on February 23rd at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Weston.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her honor to Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Weston.