Popular Fresno City College dean of counseling dies at age 54

Mónica Cuevas, the popular dean of Guidance and Counseling at Fresno City College, died Monday night the day after suffering a heart attack.

She was 54 years old.

Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria called Cuevas “an awesome Latina leader in our local community college.”

“Today we are reminded of how precious life is. I just saw Monica Cuevas at the Fiesta Navideña and today she’s no longer with us,” said Soria.

The 1985 Roosevelt High graduate had returned to Mexican folkloric dancing in recent years and had just performed a dance number in tribute to the México City and Los Ángeles pachuca era of the 1940s and 50s when she collapsed. The performance at the Teocalli Cultural Academy was canceled.

“Today at 7:45 p.m. heaven gained another angel. My friend, my student, my colleague and adopted sister Mónica Cuevas passed away from heart failure,” posted Julio Bustos Peñaloza, the founder of Teocalli Cultural Academy, on Facebook Monday night.

“Mónica, or Dean Cuevas as her FCC students knew her, touched a lot of people in her personal and professional life,” said Bustos. “The tremendous show of support today has been just wonderful.”

Cuevas worked at Fresno City College for 23 years. She became dean in October 2017.

On Saturday, she volunteered at the Fresno Latino Rotary annual Christmas toy giveaway at Chukchansi Park.

Friday night, she attended a Christmas celebration hosted by the FCC Latino Faculty & Staff Association.

Cuevas was a constant presence at FCC sporting events, including the state volleyball championships on Dec. 3 which the Rams women won.

At the 2019 Latino graduation ceremony at Fresno City College, Cuevas recalled how she related to the graduates and some of their struggles.

“Perhaps like some of you, my parents were seasonal farmworkers, which also meant I was a seasonal farmworker,” said Cuevas, the first in her family to go to college and earn a degree.

It wasn’t easy because the field work came first in her family.

“I would be pulled out of class thinking I was a special student, not knowing any different,” said Cuevas, who picked grapes and oranges in the fall, and peaches in the summer.

“Our family was poor. There’s no other word for it,” she said.

Cuevas earned her bachelor’s at Fresno State and her master’s from National University despite her father’s complaints that she spent 10 hours a day in school.

When he showed up for her graduation, “he was happier than I was,” recalled Cuevas.

She performed four years with the Roosevelt High folkloric dancers, and was a member of the school’s color guard.

Cuevas had wanted to become a second-grade teacher since she was little, but realized she could have a bigger impact on students as an administrator, said Bustos.

She had completed all her work for a doctorate degree but had to stop because of personal reasons.

She is survived by her mother, Alicia Criado; her sister Leticia Montes; and children Michael, Matthew and Miranda. Her brother Luis died in October.

Funeral services are pending.

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 13 de diciembre de 2021, 10:14 p. m..