Angeline O. (Ortiz) Curiel

Hammond

Angeline Curiel

Nee Ortiz

Angeline Ortiz Curiel of Hammond, mother of seven children, grandmother of 18, and great grandmother to 14, passed away peacefully and with family on Friday, Aug. 17, following a long illness. She was 95. She was born in Council Grove, Kansas, the 10th of 11 children born to Isabel and Jesus Ortiz. Her father, a railroad laborer, delivered her in the railroad boxcar that was the family’s home. When he died, the family moved to Northwest Indiana.

Angeline attended East Chicago Washington High School, then secretarial school and took a job at Montgomery Ward in Chicago. She married Alexander Curiel, a coworker with her brother at Inland Steel, in May 1949. As a fulltime housewife and mother she made time for grassroots politics, working outside polling sites and campaigning door to door for candidates. When the presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy came to the Washington High School gymnasium in May 1968, she took her children to see him.

“She was selfless, saving her best dreams and ambitions for her children,” said her eldest daughter, Carolyn Curiel, who said she was inspired to become a journalist, White House speechwriter and U.S. ambassador.

In 69 years of marriage, Angeline and Alexander made their family home in East Chicago, then in Hammond. The family had a tradition of enjoying summer days at Miller Beach in Gary, enjoying the water and tacos she prepared. She was a talented cook, whose tamales were shared with relatives and friends, especially at Christmas. She loved virgin piña coladas and mariachi music. After Alexander retired, they traveled together often. On one trip, she met the Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez, who was at the height of his fame. She shyly admitted later what he said to her: “You are very pretty.” Angeline was a devout Catholic. Distraught when a thief took her purse with photos of her parents, she prayed to St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost items. Days later, her purse was returned by mail, minus the money, but with the photos and a note of apology from the thief. In her later years she visited the Vatican with daughter Isabel James. As her health declined in her final decade, she was cared for by her husband, son Louis Curiel, daughter Bernadette Sahulcik and granddaughter Sarah Salucik Schaap.

Besides her husband, she is survived by children Frederick Curiel (spouse Carolann) of Crown Point; Ambassador Carolyn Curiel (Mark Van Fleet) of Hammond; Michael Curiel of Highland; Isabel James (David) of Carrollton, Texas; Bernadette Sahulcik (Richard) of Hammond; and Louis Curiel of Hammond. The eldest child, Alexander Robert Curiel (Patricia) of Portage, died in 2011.

Visitation is scheduled for Tuesday, August 21, 2018 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Bocken Funeral Home, 7042 Kennedy Avenue in Hammond (Hessville). Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. with prayers at Bocken Funeral Home followed by Mass at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church 7132 Arizona Ave. Hammond, with Rev. Charles Mosley Celebrant. Burial will follow at Chapel Lawn Cemetery in Schererville. For additional information contact Bocken Funeral Home at (219) 844-1600 or www.bockenfunerals.com

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