Alfredo Botero

Luis Alfredo Botero, husband to the late Gloria Botero, beloved father of three, and friend to many - passed away peacefully on November 24, 2022 at the age of 87 in Los Angeles, California.

Born in Abejoral, Colombia on September 1, 1935, to Ana Julia Rincon Tabarez and Manuel Salvador Botero Rios. Luis Alfredo was the youngest of 11 siblings: Ana, Sofia, Laura, Gabriella, Lucia, Carmen Emilia, Rosalia, Sebastian, Efrain and Arturo.

Alfredo spent his childhood in Abejoral but later moved to Bello, Colombia after his sister, Lucia entered the growing fabric industry in Medellin. Shortly thereafter, his other sisters followed, and they came to settle in the city of Bello, Colombia.

As a teenager, he became interested in medicine and the natural sciences. He pursued his interest and attended the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin. There he received his Bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences with emphasis on Chemistry, Physics, and Biology.

After graduating, he became a professor of the sciences at several colleges, and eventually took a full-time position at Cuidad Bolivar as a professor of Natural Science. In his pursuit to further his education, he enrolled at the University in Popayan to study medicine. Unable to complete his extended studies due to financial limitations, he returned to his teaching position.

Shortly after his return, one of his college students introduced Alfredo to his sister, Gloria Rojas. They enjoyed a courtship through letter writing to one another and eventually fell in love and married on December 29, 1968 in Cali, Colombia.

Following their marriage, they moved to Calgas, where they started their own business running a "finca" – a farm, specializing in chickens. He sold organic eggs and chickens to near-by local businesses. Happy in business with family members like his sister Laura and nephew Fernando, he continued teaching which was his primary passion.


In 1970, they were blessed with their first child, Balmore. A couple years later, they decided they wanted to expand their family and have more children.

Determined to make a better life for Balmore and their soon to be born daughter, in 1973, through the student visa program, they moved to the United States. Following his desire for higher education in medicine, he attended UCLA. Despite his substantial education, he struggled with the English language, so he decided to not continue with the UCLA program and began a series of jobs in order to support his family.

In 1974, they were blessed with the birth of their second child, Bonnie. Shortly thereafter, Alfredo and Gloria became American citizens. Three years later, they were blessed with their third child, Bylmar Eric.

Life was not as easy in the US as they had expected. They took housekeeping jobs at local hotels to at first and then later Gloria took work as a seamstress and Alfredo took work at medical offices as a medical technician. Eventually, their hard work paid off. They managed to save enough money for Alfredo to start his own small medical practice called Bebson's Medical after the matching initials of each of his children. Shortly afterwards, Gloria was hired by LAPD and eventually promoted to payroll accountant. At this point they felt established and began settling into Los Angeles, California, specifically the Hollywood area.

Alfredo quickly became a respected member of his community as he dedicated his time to helping newly immigrated people with their medical needs who did not have medical insurance. As so, he earned the nickname "El doctor". However, without an official medical degree from the US, he altered his practice to encompass holistic healing with natural herbal supplements. He eventually partnered with a natural supplement company and became a lead representative of the brand, Nature's Sunshine. Through hard work and countless hours of dedication, he became a top seller and was rewarded by the company with paid family vacations. This would spark his love of traveling.

Between his travel adventures, he would still find time to return to his original home of Medellin to help his family there, as best he could.

As a religious man, he would always thank God, the Virgin Mary and his patron saint, Martin of Tours, for the opportunities presented to him and the better life he and Gloria built together. He would repeatedly say that God and the Saints were watching over him and that "todo va a salir bien, con fe" which means everything will turn out well, with faith. Those words were always followed with the sign of the cross. In his final hour, he managed to gather enough strength to give himself, his final sign of the cross.


For those that knew him, they knew he loved life, loved his family, had a great sense of humor, enjoyed dancing, loved trips to Las Vegas, and easily made friends as he enjoyed the company of all those he encountered. He always had a positive demeanor even through the toughest times in his life. In his final days, he thanked his kids for taking care of him in his time of need and thanked God that each of his children were independent and successful in their chosen careers. He thanked God for a good life and loved all his grandkids, daughter in-laws, son in-law, family in Colombia and extended family around the world including all his close friends and caretakers to whom he considered family as well.


He was a good man and is now in the hands of God and reunited with his wife in heaven.

Luis Alfredo Botero is preceded in death by his wife, Gloria.

He is survived by his 3 children: Balmore Eduardo, Bonnie Elena and Bylmar Eric,
and his 5 grandchildren: Ethan Michael, Angelina Mia, Grace Ellen, Isabella Lily and Vincent Perfecto.

Until we meet again in heaven.
-May the Lord bless you and keep you all safe.

Amen.