Juanita Dominguez

On Friday March 26, 2021, Juanita Malouff-Dominguez, 87, took her final bow. Juanita was a devoted wife, loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother, a devout Catholic, a musician and performer and a crusader for the Chicano Movement and Women’s Rights.

She was born as the youngest of nine children on November 9, 1933, in Capulin, Colorado to Susana Gonzales and Yousef Malouff.

She married Emilio Dominguez in 1957 and had three children. They lived in Denver for 25 years where she worked for the city and county of Denver. She also spent a year in Mexico getting her Master’s Degree from the University of Mexico. She returned to the San Luis Valley in 1983 where she was an activist with the Sierra Movement. She and Emilio also brought the tradition of Posadas first to Denver and then back to the Valley where she was a music director for the Sangre de Christo Parish.

She was also a crusader for the Chicano movement and the Chicana Feminist movement. She was recognized for being the sole author of Yo Soy Chicano as well as translating Yo Soy Joaquin for Corky Gonzales. She has been referenced and quoted in many books and has been interviewed throughout Denver numerous times. She and Emilio were also inducted into the Chicano Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Along with many other honors and awards she was most recently celebrated for her work in 2020 at the Colorado History Museum in their Year of The Chicana Exhibit.

She is survived by her children, Emilio Dominguez, JA Dominguez, Zarife Dominguez, and Theresa Mayer, her 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren with two more on the way. She was loved by her family, friends and community and will be greatly missed. Funeral arrangements will be announced shortly.

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