Accident Takes ‘Sunshine’ From Family’s Life

They called her “Sunshine”--a name the Prather family used for the woman who touched their hearts with a warm smile and loving care.

In the last year, Balvina Delgado--their daughter’s nanny--had become an important part of their lives, practically a member of the family.

Delgado, 40, died Tuesday evening after she was struck by a car while waiting for a bus near the Prathers’ Buena Park home.

On Wednesday, the Prather family recalled a compassionate and religious woman who worked hard to provide for her 10-year-old daughter, Maria, who now is in the care of an aunt.

Delgado was visiting the Prathers’ home shortly before the accident Tuesday, family members said. Although it was a day off, she had dropped by to entertain 2-year-old Alexa in the backyard by drawing pictures of big, smiling suns in chalk.

“She [understood] when you needed a smile, a hug, a hello,” said Alexa’s grandmother, Jeannie Prather. “She was a little angel.”

Fighting tears, Prather recalled how excited Delgado had been about her daughter’s first communion. “She had just asked a friend to make the dress,” she said. “Things that are not going to happen now.”

Police are still investigating the accident but have determined that Eduardo Amaya, described as a Whittier man in his mid-70s, was driving east on La Palma Avenue around 6:30 p.m.

As a bus in front of him slowed down to pick up Delgado, Amaya’s car clipped the right rear bumper of the bus and continued onto the sidewalk, hitting Delgado. She was pronounced dead at the scene, said Buena Park Sgt. Chris Nunez.

Amaya was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with a broken arm, Nunez said.