Charlotte J. Lucero

 Charlotte Joyce Apodaca Lucero passed on to higher ground on July 1, 2024. The fifth of eight children, she was born to Joe and Charlotte Apodaca on March 3, 1943, in Woodland California. She moved to Davis, CA in 1966, where she lived for almost 60 years. She and her husband Rudy, who passed in March of 1993, raised four children: Rudy, Katherine, Karen, Christine, and a godson Michael.  The daughter of farm and factory workers, Charlotte never let anyone else’s expectations limit her. She was proud that she, her husband, and her children are all alumni of the University of California system. Charlotte earned a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University of California, Davis at age fifty-four and a Master’s of Social Work from San Jose State University at age sixty-seven. She was a student and faculty member of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through UC Davis for many years. Charlotte continued to take classes, and even teach students, until just a month before her death. Charlotte will be remembered for her sense of humor, lasting friendships, and determination to learn.  Charlotte was a fearless world traveler. At the age of sixty, she volunteered for the Peace Corps and lived in Ecuador for twenty-seven months. She also completed sixteen medical missions to Ecuador and the Philippines as a founding member of Faces of Tomorrow, a medical mission group that provides free surgical treatment to children born with cleft lips and cleft palates. At age seventy-four, she walked eighty miles in six days on the Camino de Santiago in Portugal and Spain.  Charlotte is survived by her four children and their spouses, Allison Lucero, Matt Trask, Greg Rogalski, and Daron Whittle, her twelve grandchildren, five siblings, and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends. Her beloved grandchildren are Roxanne, Avalon, Meg, Cece, Quinten, Jacqueline, Kieffer, Maya, Isa, Chaz, Theo, and Titus.   As she would say — “I’ve arrived. Life was full of hills and valleys — and an abundance of accomplishments— I’m a very fortunate person.”  To sign an online guestbook, please visit www.smith-funerals.com. Services will be held on August 5th, 2024 at 11:00 AM at St. James Catholic Church in Davis, California. Reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her honor to Empower Yolo at www.empoweryolo.org.