Marsela Quintero

Marsela Quintero, known by everyone as Marcy, died on May 30th, 2023 from cardiac arrest next to her loving husband. Being the caring and thoughtful person she had been her entire life, she was even registered as an organ donor. Marcy was wheeled to the OR on the morning of June, 1st 2023 surrounded by her closest friends and family. With this gift, she was able to save at least five lives. 

Marcy was born and raised in Anaheim, California. She had two loving parents and an older brother she always looked up to. She was the spoiled, youngest child for many years, but she begged for a little brother which she finally got at the age of 8. Despite becoming the middle child because she was the only daughter, she was the “princess” in the family. Marcy did everything she could to take care of her little brother and give him unconditional love. She shared a special bond with her brothers, and she saw them both like her best friends and confidants. She worked hard from K-12 to make her family proud and help the community with hundreds of hours of community service. 

She always put others before herself, so it was not a surprise she decided to become a Registered Nurse graduating from UCLA School of Nursing in 2014. She was something special at UCLA, and everyone saw her as a fun bundle of joy. She was well known for her contagious laugh, and how could you not when her laugh could always be heard echoing across her entire dorm floor. At UCLA she had two passions that kept her busy: she was part of Flying Samaritans which provided health outreach to under-served communities in Tijuana Mexico, and SCOPE Fitness & Nutrition where she helped educate and mentor elementary age children on the fundamentals and importance of a healthy lifestyle. Despite her busy schedule and potential fun weekend plans with friends at UCLA, she would go almost every weekend back home to be with her family. Her main reason was to be there for her little brother growing up and give him a complete childhood of playing with his siblings.  

Her first nursing job took her to North Dakota where she worked as a Transitional care and hospice as a nurse. This is also where she met her husband, Chris. After a short time apart, Chris and Marcy settled in San Diego where they tied the knot, bought a house and started a family by adopting their 2 fur-babies Peanut and Zorro. They had an amazing and loving life together. Some of their favorite places to travel together was Central California, and she loved Maui. She just really enjoyed swimming in the open water.

Marcy was working at Sharp Grossmont as a Medical/Oncology nurse but knew she had more to offer and decided to pursue her Master's degree at SDSU. She graduated in 2019 as an adult-gerontology Nurse Practitioner. With her bilingual skills she has been a wonderful asset to the community doing home Medicare Wellness visits. While many people can translate Spanish to English, she could interpret and relate to them on a personal level. She helped closed gaps of care with the Latin community. Marcy had a dove tattooed on her shoulder to commemorate her time in hospice care for people. The dove is a symbol of peace commonly used by hospice. 

In her college life, Marcy was known for her loud and contagious laugh, big curly hair, bread addiction (she was an expert in smuggling it on her sleeves out of dining halls, parties, and buffets), not eating spicy food and bringing the party to the dance floor. When she wasn’t working, she was always with friends or family.

In her life with Chris, her favorite meal turned into meat, cheese(Midnight moon specifically, and wine. She would go out with friends, traveling, and as many know… always acting silly. On her quiet time she would smother her dogs with love.

We can find comfort knowing that Marcy is at peace now. 

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." 

She is survived by her husband Chris, their two corgis Peanut and Zorro, mother Cristina, father Jose, and her two brothers Pablo and L.A.

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