Esperanza Gutierrez

Esperanza Gutierrez, 76 of New Haven died Monday, February 29, 2016 at the Yale-New Haven Hospital Smilow Cancer Center. She was the beloved wife of fifty two years to Leonardo Gutierrez. Esperanza was born in Pacora, Colombia on May 23, 1939, a daughter of the late José and Olivia Valencia Cardona. She moved to New Haven from Colombia in 1969, and resided in New Haven for forty years before returning to Colombia in 2009. She had returned to New Haven two weeks ago to seek treatment for her illness. Esperanza was employed by the former F.D. Graves Cigar Co. of New Haven for ten years retiring in 1993. She is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth Nieves and her husband Leo, Sandra Gutierrez, and Mario Gutierrez, two grandsons, Juliano and Nickolas Nieves, all of New Haven, and seven brothers and sisters in Colombia. She was predeceased by twelve brothers and sisters.

Funeral services for Esperanza are private and entrusted to the Washington Memorial Funeral Home, 4 Washington Ave., North Haven. www.washingtonmemorialfh.com

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