Erlinda Trillo

Erlinda Cardenas Trillo, 82, passed away on July 4, 2024, at Providence St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton. She was born in Texas to Juanita Perez Cardenas and Andres Rosales Cardenas and lived in Brownwood up until her high school graduation. Following her marriage to Carlos in 1961, the happy couple moved to Southern California where they raised a family.

While in high school, Linda was a member of the Future Nurses of America. She eventually realized her dream in the 1970s by graduating first from Cerritos College with an A.A. degree and subsequently from Cal State Long Beach with a B.S. in Nursing. She began and ended her nursing career at Long Beach Memorial, her workplace for over 30 years. She was successful in her chosen field, ultimately becoming a manager in the Memorial Heart Institute. 

Like many Texans, she had a lifelong passion for football, particularly NFL games. She was mad about pecans, and she loved to bake pecan pies each Thanksgiving and Christmas. She loved reading, traveling, gardening, fine dining, and spending time with her friends. Her favorite activity, though, was playing cards, which all of her friends can attest to. She loved to entertain and really went all-out for her guests. 

Linda was preceded in death by her parents and three of her brothers: Eduardo, Arturo, and Juan. She is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, Carlos; her daughter, Priscilla; her son and his wife, Carlos Jr and Karen; her grandchildren, Kaitlyn Orsetti (Darren), Emmalee, Isabella, and Nicholas; her great-grandchild Molly; her sister, Susana Cardenas Ceniceros (Jaime); her brother Jose Perez Cardenas; and a large extended family of cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and more. 

She encouraged excellence in others and was a role model in every sense of the word. She will be sorely missed.

Arrangements are under the care of Forest Lawn, Cypress, CA.