Baseball field dedicated to late custodian

YERMO, CA — The Silver Valley Unified School District honored former custodian Romona Lopez, who passed away from complications with colon cancer in 2008, by naming its baseball field after her, according to the Desert Dispatch.

The ceremony, which was held at 3 p.m. on Monday at Silver Valley High School, honored Lopez''s involvement in coaching teams at the high school and youth levels throughout the community, the story stated.

According to the story, the district is also dedicating a park bench outside the district office to Lopez.

Lopez, a 29-year veteran custodian, was extremely charitable and often donated extra clothes, food, sports equipment and school supplies to needy students and even paid for caps and gowns for students who couldn’t afford them and set up a scholarship fund at the school, the story noted.

Mike Garcia, head district custodian and former Silver Valley baseball coach, said: "She was a leader and a mentor for everybody at the school. She was a mother and a friend. She was great."

The move to dedicate the field to Lopez began earlier this year when the California School Employees Association (CSEA) Chapter 374 at Silver Valley approached the Silver Valley School Board about the idea, the story added.

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