Blanca E. Aviles, 53, of Elgin died Thursday, July 22, 2010 at Provena St. Joseph Hospital surrounded by family and friends. Born in Elgin on February 28, 1957, she was the daughter of Dario and Eva (Guajardo) Garcia.

She worked for Dr. Irving Bush’s billing department for many years, and held various other positions prior to going on to the Grand Victoria Casino where she worked for over 10 years. Blanca loved to cook and spend time with her grandchildren. She was a life long resident of Elgin. Known and loved, she will be dearly missed by many family and friends.

Blanca is preceded in death by her husband, Jorge Aviles; parents, Dario and Eva Garcia; birth parents; Manuela Guajardo and Antonio Galvez; and sister, Anna Loza-Martinez.

She is survived by her children, Armando D. Garcia and Eva E. Garcia; 3 grandchildren, Kayla I. Garcia, Aniah A. Garcia, and Eric J. Steiber Jr.; 8 siblings, Hilda (Lloyd) Brandt of Casa Grand, AZ; Jesse Martinez of McAllen, TX; Jose L. (Judith) Martinez of Del Rio, TX; Yolanda (Agapito) Romero of Elgin, IL; Arturo (Linda) Galvez of Salinas, CA; Leticia (Ramon) Perez of Harvard, IL; Albino (Frances) Garcia, Jr. of Albuquerque, NM; Guadalupe (Jose) Villa of Del Rio, TX; 1 aunt, Belen (Gilbert) Gonzalez, San Juan, TX; 3 of her best friends, Laura Gomez, Kathy McMinn and Victoria Vasquez, and her loving children and grandchildren in heart, Mauro and Monica Martinez, and Casey Rodriguez and Vanessa Suarez, Alec Quiceno, Adrian Martinez and Nolee Hernandez; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, July 29, 2010 from 9:00 until time of Funeral Service at 11:00 AM at O’Connor – Leetz Funeral Home, Elgin, Pastor Mark Weinert of First Christian Church, Elgin will officiate. Burial will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery, Elgin. For more information, or to leave a condolence, please call us at 847-741-1400.