427 Goodyear near Genesee Street

ELDERLY WOMAN STIRS CONGREGATION'S LOVE

SHE IS PROUD but not prideful and she has spent much of her life doing good works. To her pastor at Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lilla Gonzalez is "a very, very special person." Last Christmas, despite limited means and diminishing eyesight, Mrs. Gonzalez bought the material and made pot holders and gave them to her fellow members of the church guild.

It was not an unexpected act of kindness on her part. When mothers bring their infants to the font, Mrs. Gonzalez is usually there with her own gift, a handmade baptismal napkin.

. . .  "If it wasn't for the Lord," she says, holding back the tears, "I sometimes think I wouldn't be able to carry this load." Her daughter's death made Lilla Gonzalez the guardian and sole support of two grandchildren -- Felicia, 16, and Michael, 7. "We just have each other and we are going to have to make the best of it," Mrs. Gonzalez said. "When things cool down, we are going to sit down together and work out a game plan." At 74, she says she's tired. "My time is getting short, I know. I'm only human but I've put my problems in God's hands. It's only when I take them out of his hands that I worry," she said. "He made us and when he wants me, he'll come back and take me." With the dynamics of her family shattered, Mrs. Gonzalez spends her days trying to pick up the pieces. A talented seamstress, she says it's difficult for her to mend the children's broken hearts. At first, little Michael sat in stunned silence, deeply moved by the loss of his mother, somewhat comforted by the fact that his grandmother lived downstairs. "Mike's fine now," Mrs. Gonzalez said. "I try to keep him happy with Popsicles and a daily visit to the gum-ball machine. "When I put out his clothes in the morning for school, he always wants to make sure the color matches. He wants to look nice." Felicia thinks about her future. Her goal is to attend school next year at St. Augustine's so that she can get her diploma and go to a prom, just like her mother did. "This is the prom dress I made for Monica," Mrs. Gonzalez said, proudly holding up a long red gown with a big fussy bow on the back. "I guess it's not in style these days but back then, it was really something and she looked beautiful in it."  . . .

Her pastor, Quentin G. Poulson, vicar of Gethsemane Church, says Mrs. Gonzalez is not alone. "Just as she would help others, the congregation is determined to help her," he said. "I didn't have to suggest it. As soon as it happened, our members started making plans." They are going to hold a church supper on Thursday and with the help of the Aid Association for Lutherans, which is administered by the parent church, they will receive matching dollars for the Lilla Gonzalez Fund.  . . .  "We're just a small group and we can't solve all of society's problems," the vicar said, "but we can look after each other. "And that's something Lilla Gonzalez has taught us to do by her own example."

Buffalo News, Ray Hill

September 11, 1989