Amparo Ugalde

On Thursday, March 27, 2025, Amparo Ugalde, 87 entered the arms of the Lord guided by His heavenly angels and surrounded by the love of her family. 

We respectfully request that no one arrive at the funeral home prior to the posted visitation times, so as not to intrude on the family’s private time. 

Family and friends are invited to the visitation in the Kowalski Funeral Home, 515 Roselle Street, Linden on Friday, April 4th. from 6:30-8:30PM.  On Saturday, April 5th. at 8:00AM, everyone will start to gather in the funeral home where a prayer service will begin at 8:30AM, followed by the funeral mass to be offered in St. John the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, Clark at 9:30AM.  The prayers of committal will precede Amparo’s burial at 11:45AM in the family plot in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

Amparo, the daughter of the late Josefa Ramirez Quiroz and the late Eugenio Victorio Ugalde Rodriguez was born in San José de la Montaña Barva, Heredia, Costa Rica.  She came to the United States in 1967, living in the Bronx, New York for twenty-eight years before settling in Westfield, New Jersey twenty-seven years ago.

While residing in the Bronx, Amparo worked for fifteen years for Our Lady of Mercy Roman Catholic Church, both as a librarian in the school and the housekeeper in the rectory before taking her well-deserved retirement in 1998.

 Amparo was a deeply religious woman who filled her daily life with prayer, and she was devoted to the priests, nuns and her church community.  Since all of Amparo’s family was in Costa Rica, she adopted everyone associated with the church as her family in the States.  Amparo was present for all the masses and on the weekend, she along with her two daughters, Ethel and Lucia, would sing for Saturday 5:30PM mass and the three Sunday masses, 9:00 and 11:00AM  and 12:15 PM.  The church became a second home to Amparo and her girls.  The priests and nuns at Our Lady of Mercy R.C. Church developed a loving relationship of being a parent or grandparent to her daughters.  They kept watch over the girls as they were growing up even to the point of contemplating if the girls potential boyfriends would be acceptable to date, just like parents would do.  Later in life, when Lucia (Lucy) was working in a chiropractor’s office doing clerical work, Amparo would often show up and just sit there, keep her daughter company but more so watch her daughter work.  The chiropractor, upon seeing her there so often, turned it into a running joke that Amparo was “Lucy watching” and that made everyone smile.  In her free time, Amparo loved to cook, and her repertoire ran the gamut of all types of food and desserts.  Her specialty was cooking for birthday celebrations.  Everyone knew they would be in for a special treat when a family member’s birthday was on the horizon.  The food would be delicious and plentiful with everyone’s favorites sprinkled in and of course, no one ever left hungry!

Aside from her devotion to her faith and her church, Amparo was all about family.  She loved to be surrounded by those she held close to her heart, and she was enormously proud of the family upbringing that she was blessed to give to her daughters who are now passing on those lessons to the next generation.  Amparo was the best Mom ever!

Amparo leaves behind the broken hearts of her two daughters and sons-in-law, Ethel M. Lopez and her husband, Luis F. Lopez and Lucia Elena Perpina and her husband, Victor M. Maldonado; her three grandchildren, Victoria Anne Baughman, Andrew Xavier Maldonado and Joseph Emmanuel Maldonado; her great grandchild, Hayden Baughman and Amparo’s many family members, friends and neighbors, both in Costa Rica and here in the States.

Amparo has left a hole in the hearts of her family that can never be filled.  We know that the Lord granted Amparo a life full of blessings and love, sprinkled with the pain of personal losses.  Her legacy shows us the importance of family, faith and perseverance with grace and dignity.  As we mourn the loss of Amparo, may we rejoice that she is now reunited with all those who went before her.  We will miss her tremendously, but Amparo will never be forgotten, and she will always be remembered as the kind and gentle soul whose love was without limits.  May Amparo find eternal rest with our Lord and Savior.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Amparo Ugalde, please visit our floral store.