Tragic Accident Kills Apparel Buyer

Guillermina Barraza, who was a buyer for her family’s Tianello Boutique in Pasadena, Calif., died on June 15 after falling in her home five days earlier. She was 37.

Barraza, who went by the nickname Mina, was married to Steve Barraza, the founder and owner of Tianello, a Los Angeles manufacturer of women’s clothing made principally of Tencel.

Steve Barraza said his wife, who had been taking migraine medication, fell down the stairs of their Dana Point, Calif., home around 7:30 a.m. on June 10, hitting her head on a marble floor. She was rushed to the Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., and admitted to the intensive care unit to be treated for a fractured skull, he said.

Mina Barraza was transferred to a regular room on June 13, her husband said, and was expected to return home on June 16. Then early June 15, Steve Barraza received a call from the hospital saying his wife had died.

“Anybody she met was her friend,” he said of his wife. “She was the baseball mom, the soccer mom and the homeroom mom for our kids.”

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Mina Barraza came to the United States in her teens. She graduated with an associate’s degree in fashion design from Los Angeles Trade Tech College.She is survived by her daughter, Briana, 12; her son, Renato, 10; her parents, Maria and Salvador Gonzalez of Los Angeles; her sister, Maria Sanchez of Los Angeles; and her brother, Peter Gonzalez of China.

Funeral arrangements are pending. For more information, call (323) 231-0599.

—Deborah Belgum