Maria Cordelia "Cordy" Chavez, age 86 of Fresno, CA passed away peacefully with her family by her side on February 17, 2016.

Cordy was born on July 5, 1929 in Walsenburg, CO. She was the middle child and only daughter of Louie and Victoria Hurtado. The family, including her two brothers, Vincent and Eugene, would settle and grow up in Colorado Springs, CO.

Cordy married the love of her life, Ivan Chavez, in 1951. The couple settled in San Leandro where they raised their three children; Linda, Thomas, and Kenneth. Cordy and Ivan enjoyed bowling, taking trips to Reno, days out fishing, and most of all being around close family and friends having a beer, playing poker and sharing laughs.

Cordy was a dedicated and hard worker. She worked as a Manager for Kasper's Hot Dogs for many years before retiring.

Throughout the years, she had shown such great strength. Cordy spent more than 50 years in San Leandro before relocating to Fresno 15 years ago to be closer to her family.

Cordy loved spending time with family which she was very proud of. She was the beloved wife of the late Ivan Chavez, devoted mother of Linda Tharp, Thomas Chavez and Kenneth Chavez, loving grandma of Jennifer and Jeff Jones, Manuela Chavez, and Rebecca and Anthony Olivera and Great Grandma to Romeo, Hailey, Virginia, Jeffrey and Maximus.

Cordy's Catholic faith was very important to her. In recent years Cordy cherished the conversations she was able to have with loved ones such as her "sister" Tina, niece Janis and cousin Louise sharing stories and memories of both the past and present. She enjoyed music (especially Elvis), football (go Niners and Broncos), and eating tortillas with butter.

Cordy touched so many lives and was known for her feisty, yet good sense of humor. Her sharp wit, great smile and kind heart will be missed by all that knew and loved her.

Cordy will be buried at a private service at Santa Nella National Cemetery, next to her husband Ivan. A "Celebration of Life...Fiesta!" is going to be held at The Falls Event Center (4105 West Figarden Dr, Fresno, CA 93722) on Saturday, March 26th at 3pm. Memorial contributions are welcome and should be mailed to Linda Tharp at 4755 N. Vagedes Ave. Fresno, CA 93705.

Thank you to wonderful staff who took such great care of our mom and grandma at Pacific Gardens Nursing Home. You meant to much to her the last few months of her life and we appreciate everything you did for her.