Pilsen community mourns loss of beloved 81-year-old Hermila Alvarez
CHICAGO - The Pilsen community is mourning the loss of one of its best known and beloved residents.
Hermila Alvarez, 81, passed away last week after a two-year battle with colon and liver cancer.
For 45 years, she ran the "Los Cuatros Hermanos" corner store on South Allport Street. She was known as "mom" or "abuela" to hundreds of people and for never letting people leave the store empty-handed, even if customers didn't have enough money to pay.
Her son says even known gang members gravitated toward her because she always had compassion, no matter what your life circumstance — and she always lent a sympathetic, listening ear.
"People would call her 'mom,' from kids to grown men. I'm talking about whites, Blacks, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, it didn't even matter. They called her 'mom.' It just came natural: ‘hey, how's mom doing?’" said Artemio Rodriguez.
Hermila Alvarez worked at the store seven days a week from December 1976 all the way through October of last year, after she was diagnosed with late-stage cancer.