Frances (Blanco) Minjarez

Frances Minjarez (nee Blanco), age 89 of East Chicago, IN passed away Friday, December 19, 2025.  She is survived by her husband, Alberto Minjarez; 2 daughters: Becky Sanchez and Lisa Minjarez; 4 grandchildren: James, Jenny (Phil), Steven, and Bianca (Abraham); 11 great grandchildren: Ellion, Elijah, Maria, Aziza, Phil II, Tiana, Xavier, Maylie, Kamilla, Penelope, and Aiyana; 3 great great grandchildren: Joziah, Davione, and Juanito; siblings: Rose Vasquez, Robert Blanco, and Armando (Carmen) Blanco; numerous nieces and nephews.  Preceded in death by her parents, Eleuterio and Hilaria Blanco; son, Jose Minjarez; siblings: David, Connie, Mary, Joey, Lupe, Linda, and Richie Blanco.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday, December 30, 2025 at 10:00 am at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 3510 Deodar Street, East Chicago, IN with Rev. Diego Florez officiating.  Burial to follow at St. John Cemetery, Hammond, IN.  Visitation at the FIFE FUNERAL HOME, 4201 Indianapolis Blvd., East Chicago, IN will be from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Monday and from 9:30 am to 10:00 am at the Church on Tuesday morning.

Frances was born in Blue Island, IL, in 1936. Shortly after, her family moved to East Chicago, where she would remain as a lifelong resident of the Harbor. She graduated from Washington High School in East Chicago in 1956. She married the love of her life, Alberto, on June 7, 1968, and held a three-day celebration! She also bore two daughters, Becky and Lisa.

Frances served for more than 30 years on the janitorial team at Inland Steel, and she did so as one of the first women at her plant. Though she retired in 1994, coworkers still remember her today for her kindness, dedication, and warm smile.

Frances worked hard at Inland Steel, but her retirement allowed her to pursue her true passions: drinking coffee with her husband in the morning and spending the day watching Columbus Drive from her porch. More than watching, she loved getting to know the people of East Chicago. If you lived in the Harbor, she most likely knew not only your name, but your entire family.

Though she cultivated rich relationships outside of her home, Frances is most remembered for her selfless hospitality inside of it. If you’ve ever been to her yearly Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties, you likely remember lively dancing, delicious food, and joyful company.

She regularly hosted immediate family, extended relatives, friends, acquaintances, friends and family of acquaintances, and so on. If you entered her property, or at least its immediate vicinity, she took it upon herself to welcome you, feed you, share old memories of the Harbor with you, and send you back happier (and fuller!) than how you arrived.

When you came to visit, there was no mistaking her house. She adorned her walls with religious santos, wind chimes, musical clocks, mantle clocks, grandfather clocks (The louder, the better!), houseplants, and, at times, caged birds.

As a lover of sweets of all kinds, Frances connected with her family and neighborhood through baking. Every Christmas, she enlisted her relatives to help her prepare buñuelos, or elephant ears. And if you lived within a 50-mile radius of her, you could count on a plate of homemade Christmas cookies gracing your porch. We estimate she has baked thousands of cookies yearly. That number isn’t so surprising if you’ve met Frances.

In another life, Frances could’ve worked as a secretary, or maybe just a human filing cabinet. She wrote down and stored into little notebooks every bit of information she came across, whether it was details about her doctor’s visits or memorabilia from funerals. We can likely credit her writing, word searches, and copies of Reader’s Digest as reasons she remained sharper than most of us well into her 80s.

Frances enjoyed watching TV, and her favorite programs were The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune. She also faithfully read her novels, particularly Mary Higgins Clark.

She also loved to shop from the Fingerhut catalog and the QVC channel. You could often find her glued to the TV with her notepad and pen, ready to write down the item number of the special of the day.

Frances took pride in her appearance. If you knew her, you likely remember her as a classy little lady with carefully-styled hair, jewelry, and an elegant outfit.

She was also a lifelong Cubs fan and bore the title proudly.

As a Catholic, Frances believed in Jesus Christ as her Savior. She committed to praying the rosary four times every day, keeping prayer books, and watching Mass on Channel 9 every Sunday. Her legacy of faith is a gift that endures today.

Frances is survived by her husband, her daughters, four grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. We love her, and we’ll miss her very much.  To share an online condolence, logon to www.fifefuneralhome.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Frances (Blanco) Minjarez, please visit our floral store.