Placentia Pioneer Martina Aguirre, 99, Dies

Martina V. Aguirre, a Placentia pioneer who ran a clothing business in the city for half a century, died this week of kidney failure. She was 99.

Born in Mexico, Mrs. Aguirre and her husband, Jose, moved to Placentia in 1919 to escape the Mexican Revolution and reunite with family members already in the United States.

The Aguirres ran a neighborhood grocery store and barber shop for many years before Jose Aguirre died in 1935.

Left to raise 10 children alone, Mrs. Aguirre soon opened a clothing and dry goods shop out of her home.

“It was like a little JC Penney,” said Frederick P. Aguirre, a Fullerton attorney and Mrs. Aguirre’s grandson. “It was a real neighborhood store. She catered mostly to women who were buying clothes for their children and families. She used to sell a lot of things on credit.”

Mrs. Aguirre regularly took the train or bus to the Los Angeles garment district to buy merchandise for her business.

“She never went on welfare or any kind of public assistance,” Frederick Aguirre said. “She was very independent and sharp.”

Mrs. Aguirre continued to run the business until she was 94 and arthritis forced her to move in with relatives.

She is survived by five children, 51 grandchildren and 112 great-grandchildren. Her surviving children are Alfred Aguirre, a former Placentia councilman who helped desegregate local schools; Sara Miranda of Mission Viejo; Joe Aguirre of Placentia; Frank Aguirre of Anaheim, and Aileen Olivas of Placentia.

Services were directed by McAulay & Wallace Mortuary in Fullerton.