brings Spanish culture to her dishes
WILLOWICK-Helena Mandato is proud of her Spanish heritage. Her parents, Hermione and Francisco Lopez, both emigrated to the U.S. from Spain. She was a young widow with two young sons. The couple met and were married in New York City and later moved to Cedar Avenue in Cleveland, where Mandato grew up in St. Agnes Parish.
The Lopez family spoke Spanish at home and had a group of friends who gathered frequently to converse in Mr. and Mrs. Lopez’ native tongue. She said it was hard to recognize her parents as Spanish from their looks, since her mother was a green-eyed platinum blonde and her father, although he had dark hair, had a red mustache. They kept Spanish culture alive in their home and, although the family struggled financially, strove to live artfully.
“My mother taught me when I was little how to serve a meal and entertain,” said Mandato. “She showed me how to set the table with fresh flowers. I like to make my guests feel comfortable and welcome. Each person is an individual and has their own tastes. I always try to make the things I know they enjoy.”
She said the Spanish like fish and chicken and cook light food that is not hot and spicy. Her father had been a baker in Spain and a cook on the ship that carried him to America. Although he had been a cook at a large New York hotel, when he came to Cleveland he worked as a “shader” for a paint company. She said he had quite the eye for colors, which she has inherited. Mandato’s mother was also a very good cook. She described her mother as a “jokester,” and her father was a beautiful, kind man.
Mandato said her mother told her many recipes, but she gave the directions in Spanish, and the amounts were not exact. “I had to work it out myself to get it consistently right and make it mine,” she said.
Helena Maria Lopez married Anthony Mandato, a business agent for the mechanics and aerospace workers’ union. Her life with the blue-eyed and red-haired Italian was comfortable and happy. “He was a very generous man, always out there for the underdog,” she said. “He was an angel.” Mr. Mandato died last year.
The past year has been a tough one for Mandato. In addition to her husband, she also lost her daughter, Yvonne Keener, both to heart disease. In addition, five other close relatives and friends of Mandato’s passed away during the same time period.
She said she copes by keeping busy and doing the things she enjoys. She bakes a couple of times a week, usually giving the goodies to friends and neighbors. She is a talented watercolorist and finds painting helps when she gets down, as does writing poetry. She does whatever she can to reach out to others and offer help and compassion to them, volunteering at her church, at Lake West Hospital and at Hospice of the Western Reserve. She also participates in a Hospice bereavement support group.
Mandato lives in Willowick and is a parishioner at St. Mary Magdalene Parish. She has another daughter, Victoria Ryan, three adult grand daughters and seven great grandchildren.
“To me, every day is more beautiful than the day before,” she said. “If I wake up feeling bad or depressed, I take a walk and try to touch someone else to make them feel good. That makes me feel good, too. I always want to make someone’s life better than it is.”
McGovern is a freelance writer.
ANDREA MCGOVERN
Helena Mandato uses her cooking talents to brighten the lives of others.
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