Ofilia Pompa Salas, 86, of Rockford, IL, passed away peacefully in her home on Thursday, April 1, 2021 after her battle with dementia. She was surrounded by her family. She was born to parents George and Maria Hernandez Pompa, on September 30, 1934, in Devine, TX. Ofilia married Dan, the love of her life, on December 6, 1950 in O’Donnell, TX. They built their family of 7 children on love, hard work, and faith. Ofilia was there for her children, their spouses and many of their friends and showed them importance of family. She was a member of The Cathedral of St. Peter’s Church.
She worked for St. Elizabeth’s Community Center as a Social Worker for over 25 years until her retirement in 1992. Ofilia was a pillar of the Hispanic community and was honored with many awards throughout the years for her selfless work. She had a way of making each person she encountered feel special and loved.
Ofilia was an avid music lover, songwriter, and singer. During her final years of dementia, music was one of the things that would make her happy. She would perform “concerts” in her beautiful singing voice for her family.
Mrs. Salas is survived by her seven children, Albert (Jeanna), Danny, Cynthia (Tomas) Gonzalez, Rebecca (Gilbert) Campos, Leroy (Ray Young), Patricia (Ariel) Muraira, and Christina (Hershey) Ellis. She had 15 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
Surviving siblings, brother, Richard “Jimmy” Pompa and sisters, Evangelina “Eva” Morales and Rosa Fabrow all of Texas.
Ofilia was preceded in death by her husband in 2019; her parents; an infant daughter; and older brother, George.
The family would like to express their deep appreciation to the staff and nurses at Heartland Hospice for the care that they delivered to our mother during this time. Special thank you to Korin who took care of both parents in their final days and to Gabby, Heartland’s Music Therapist, for sharing her love of music with our mom. Also, a Special Thank You to Tricia Muraira and Jessica Salas-Morris for All her help and Support throughout the years!
Visitation was held from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm Friday, April 16, 2021 in Honquest Family Funeral Home with Crematory – Mulford Chapel, 4311 N. Mulford Road, Loves Park followed immediately by a service. Burial in Calvary Catholic Cemetery. To view the funeral service on our YouTube channel please click the link below.