Rachel Laura Nino

Rachel L. Niño, age 77, of San Antonio, passed away peacefully in the early afternoon hours of Sunday, July 2, 2023. Rachel was born in Chicago, Illinois to the late Marcel Onate and Frances Jimenez. Rachel was one of five children who were born and raised in Chicago but spent many vacations in Texas growing up.

Rachel married the love of her life, and her best friend, Felipe Niño, on January 21, 1967 on a cold but beautiful day in Chicago. Together they would spend the next 56 years raising their beloved family, sharing the ups and downs that life provides, and living a lifetime of memories that will live on for generations to come.

Rachel worked two very different careers in her lifetime. She was a Data Manager for Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago where she worked in the oncology department for many years. In Texas, Rachel was a nursery teacher at La Petite Academy where she lovingly cared for infants between three and six months old. Her two very different jobs suited her skills as a caregiver and mother as she was able to help people at the end stages of their lives and then transitioned into lovingly taking care of those just beginning life.

Rachel was a Catholic by faith and enjoyed many hours in meditation and prayer at the Lourdes Grotto and Tepeyac de San Antonio. She was also a member of the Mary McDowell Settlement Alumni Association.

Rachel is survived by her loving husband, Felipe; three children, Laura Escobar, and husband Gonzalo “Charlie”), of Chicago, Lisa Cortinas, and husband Gabriel, of San Antonio and Mark Niño, and wife Celia, of Chicago; one sister, Gloria Jimenez of Chicago; four grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and a host of other relatives and very special friends.

She was also preceded in death by three siblings, Connie Dogium, Gus Onate, and Danny Onate.