Maria “Connie” Creal

Dec. 7, 1931 – March 7, 2019

Maria “Connie” Creal, 87, died on March 7, 2019.

She died peacefully in her sleep with her daughters by her side, the family wrote.

She was born in Tucson, Arizona on Dec. 7, 1931 as Maria Consuelo Mendoza, known as Chelo. In Homer, she was known as Connie.

As a young girl, Connie left home to seek adventure, education and see the world. She joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), where she decoded Morse code messages. Years later, she claimed she could hear Morse code in the silver fillings of her teeth. Her first marriage brought her to Portugal, all over the United States and ultimately, Alaska. Homer is where she ultimately settled, beginning a new chapter in her life as a Homer person and finding the love of her life and new husband, Bob. As the years passed, she went to college to study business and saw more of the world, traveling many times to Hawaii, Europe and the Caribbean with Bob or her daughters.

Connie once said she lost count of how many years she had lived in Homer: about 40 years, maybe more. She was active with the Ladies Guild of St. John’s Catholic Church in Homer, volunteered many years with the Homer Food Pantry and recently opened a bead and breakfast called Connie’s Homer House.

Her interests were growing flowers and vegetables, making things for The Bazaar, working crossword puzzles and her little dog Samson. Above all, she treasured Bob, her daughters and her brothers and sisters back in Tucson. She maintained an unwavering faith in God her entire life. That last night, after seeing the priest, she enjoyed an apple fritter with an espresso and then went to sleep to be with God.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert “Bob” Creal; her first husband and the father of her daughters, Howard Keiser; her brother, Frank Mendoza; and her parents, Juan and Trinidad Mendoza.

Connie is survived by her daughters, Gail Summers, of Edgewood, New Mexico, Jan Keiser, of Poulsbo, Washington, and Laura Keiser, of Wasilla, Alaska; her brothers, Art Mendoza, Johnnie Mendoza and Oscar Mendoza, all of Tucson, Arizona; and her sisters, Tencha Ponce and Celia Suarez, both of Tucson, Arizona.

You are invited to a memorial open house for Connie from 1-3 p.m. on May 4, 2019 in the lower level of St. John’s Catholic Church in Homer. Connie’s daughters would love to meet you.