Oralia Ponce (Lala) Martinez

Oralia (Lala) Ponce Martinez Was born June 16, 1930 in Corpus Christi, Texas. She went to join her husband, Oddie, on June 17, 2014. In 1948, when a young sailor visited her church, he swept her off her feet and shortly thereafter, Lala married Oddie. He then brought her to Redlands where she has lived ever since. After raising four children, she worked for the Redlands Unified School District as an attendance clerk at Moore Middle School. She enjoyed camping, knitting, crocheting, cooking and working in her garden. Most of all, she loved her dogs. Deaf since the early 1980s, Lala received the first trained hearing dog in the Inland Empire. She was a pioneer in service dog acceptance here in our region, proudly introducing Mugsy to the airlines, restaurants, retail stores and other public space areas. Lala is preceded in death by her husband, Oddie J. Martinez, Jr., and daughter Cindi Leigh Gibbon. She is survived by her loving children Monica Schoenmann (Nick), Bernie Martinez (Diane), Priscilla Brown (Ron), eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. There will be a graveside service at Hillside Memorial Cemetery on June 26, 2014 at 12 p.m. Everyone who knew Lala said she had the greatest smile.