Ogden Latinos mark Día de los Muertos to honor ancestors: ‘It’s sad and happy’
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- Joann Gomez stands in front of the ofrenda at the Washington Terrace home of her daughter, Miranda Perez, photographed Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. The ofrenda is a tradition of Día de los Muertos, celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2 each year.
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- Ali Magallanes, center, the winner of the Catrina contest at the Día de los Muertos celebration on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, at Union Station in Ogden. La Catrina, typically represented by females with skull face paint and elaborate garb, is a symbol of Día de los Muertos.
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- Roberto Isalas of Ogden poses in front of an ofrenda in the trunk of his 1941 Chevrolet Master Deluxe, photographed Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, at the Día de los Muertos celebration at Union Station.
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- An ofrenda at Union Station in Ogden as part of the Día de los Muertos celebration there on Oct. 28, 2023.
WASHINGTON TERRACE — Looking at the ofrenda in her daughter’s garage, Joann Gomez gets sentimental.
“There’s my father-in-law,” she says, pointing to one of the many photos resting on the ofrenda — or altar in English — a staple of Día de los Muertos activities. She passes her finger by other photos: “His parents, his sister.”
Her late brother Lorenzo’s photo is at the top, among many other pictures, faux marigolds, candles, colorful skulls and other decorations. On a table off to the side — added to accommodate the overflow of passed loved ones, and pets even — sit pictures of a Yorkshire terrier, nieces, friends, Gomez’s husband’s best friend, the Head Start teacher who taught Gomez’s children years ago, an elderly couple. “I babysat their kid when I was younger,” Gomez says.
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is typically observed Nov. 1 and 2, Wednesday and Thursday this year, and for many Latinos, particularly Mexicans and those of Mexican descent, it’s a big occasion — a chance to remember relatives, friends and other loved ones who have passed on. Elaborate and colorful home ofrendas featuring photos of lost loved ones are a central element of the celebration; while in Mexico, visits to cemeteries to visit their burial plots are also common.
“Día de los Muertos is a day to celebrate. It’s to celebrate ancestors and those who came before us,” said Arlene Anderson, whose parents came to Ogden from Mexico. “I think it’s important that we all remember our ancestors.”
Though rooted in the pre-Columbian cultures of what is now Mexico, the celebration — not to be confused with Halloween — is increasingly visible in places like Ogden, where Latinos, most of them Mexicans or of Mexican descent, make up just over 30% of the population. Two public Día de los Muertos celebrations have already been held here — on Oct. 21 at Ben Lomond High School and Oct. 28 at Union Station. On Wednesday starting at 6 p.m., Myers Mortuary is hosting a public Día de los Muertos event at Evergreen Memorial Park, the cemetery at 100 Monroe Blvd.
“For the first time in Northern Utah, possibly even in the entire state, the Day of the Dead will be celebrated in a cemetery, where tradition dictates it should be held,” reads a press release from Myers. Myers teamed with Oaxaca en Utah, made up of Utah residents with roots in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, in organizing the event.
Skulls, skull face-painting and skeletons figure big in the imagery of Día de los Muertos. Though visits from the spirits of lost loved ones figure in the lore of Día de los Muertos, the tradition isn’t about goblins, ogres and other creepy staples of Halloween.
“It’s to bring them back for a day, for them to come back for a day to celebrate with us,” said Faith Barela, who put up an ofrenda at Union Station in connection with the Día de los Muertos event there. “It’s a celebration, not something to be afraid of.”
Indeed, Anderson, a member of the Ogden school board who helped organize the Día de los Muertos event at Ben Lomond High School, makes it a point to distinguish the two traditions. Día de los Muertos is “a sacred holiday. We don’t want to get it confused with Halloween,” she said.
Ogden Friends of Acoustic Music, or OFOAM, hosted the Ben Lomond High School event.
‘IT’S SAD AND HAPPY’
At the Union Station Día de los Muertos celebration last Saturday, organized by Nurture the Creative Mind, Roberto Isalas was there, showing off his 1941 Chevrolet Master Deluxe as part of the car show at the event. In the rear open trunk, he had assembled his own ofrenda featuring photos of late loved ones, skulls and a large conch shell.
“That’s my grandparents right there,” he said, pointing out the many pictures. “My uncle, my wife’s mom. That’s my mom, my sister-in-law. … That’s one of my best friends.”
The conch shell, he said, is a symbolic means to get the attention of lost loved ones off in the spirit world. “Calling them out, letting them know we’re here — ‘Come on over,'” he said.
Marigolds, the bright yellow or gold flower, serve a similar purpose, said Barela, their scent drawing spirits. Growing up, her parents would put up ofrendas in the family home, she said, but she didn’t really embrace the Día de los Muertos tradition until she grew and came to understood it.
“It was really good for me to learn and even teach my own family members,” she said. The tradition, she said, brings her closer to her ancestors.
Similarly, though Gomez’s husband, originally from Mexico, grew up with the tradition, Gomez, a third-generation American whose grandparents are from Mexico, didn’t. She has only started to mark Día de los Muertos in the last several years.
Now, though, the tradition seems ingrained in her and her family’s psyche. She keeps up photos of lost loved ones year-round in the dining room of her Washington Terrace home, sprucing the display up each year around Día de los Muertos with extra decorations, votive candles, food that her ancestors liked and more.
“My family, I miss them,” Gomez said. “All of us miss them and we don’t ever want to forget them.”
Her daughter Miranda Perez, who lives nearby, keeps the ever-growing ofrenda up in her garage year-round. Come Thursday, extended family will gather there for a Día de los Muertos party, remembering the many people in the photos on her multilevel ofrenda. They’ll pack it with the favorite food of their late loved ones, eat with them, listen to music and reminisce.
“It’s sad and happy. A lot of memories,” Gomez said.