Nov. 3, 1949 — Feb. 29, 2020

Antonia T. Castillo, 70, of Niles, wife, mother, grandmother, pastor’s wife, shopper and “Ma” to many, died at 4:02 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, with family gathered around her bed in Memorial Hospital, South Bend, Indiana following an extended illness.

She was born on Nov. 3, 1949, in San Antonio, Texas, to Mike and Teresa (Hill) Velasquez. She was graduated from San Antonio Cooper High School (now Cooper Academy). She has lived in Niles since 1981.

Toni was a member of the Bethel Baptist Church in Niles and had helped her husband to establish Bethel’s outreach church, Cristo Viene. She and her husband partnered with the Niles-Buchanan Habitat for Humanity as its first project homeowners. She enjoyed traveling with her husband (an over-the-road truck driver) throughout the U.S. and Canada. She also enjoyed local trips… to the mall or the outlet for shopping. She maintained a wonderful home for her family, especially in the kitchen where everyone looked forward to her Texan Enchiladas and her flour tortillas. Her greatest joy was her family.

On Sept. 21, 1972, in San Antonio, she married Luis Raul Castillo with whom she celebrated last year the 47th anniversary of their wedding.

Surviving family includes her husband, Pastor Luis Castillo, and their children, Raul Castillo, of Mexico, Sandra (Antonio) Garcia of Mishawaka, Indiana, Brenda (Nicholas Davis) Castillo, of Elkhart, Indiana, Jonathan Castillo, of Michigan, and Judith (Jonathan) Castillo, of Goshen, Indiana; grandchildren, Luis Raul Castillo III, Jennifer Castillo, James Castillo, Jonathan Castillo, Jon E. Garcia, David Adam Garcia, Aaron Macedo, Andrew Macedo, Emily Macedo, Bailey Castillo, Austin Castillo, Isabel Castillo, Seth Castillo, Delilah Castillo, J.J. Castillo, and Reyna Castillo; great-grandchildren Hayden Mervine, Ava Thompson, Royce Thompson, and Nicolas Macedo; Toni’s siblings, Paul H. Valesquez, Jamie H. Valesquez, Frank H. Valesquez, Josephine Jones, Rose Marie Elizondo, and Margaret V. Reyes, all of San Antonio, and many nieces and nephews of several generations.

She was preceded in death by her parents and by two brothers, Mike Valesquez, Jr. and Robert Valesquez.

The family of Toni Castillo is gathering privately for funeral services at the Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home in Niles with the Rev. R. Allan Poage, retired officiating. Committal will follow at Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles. Online condolences may be left at: halbritterwickens.com.

Toni loved people in her community by preparing hundreds of tortillas for the volunteers at Habitat, and partnering with her husband to minister to an underserved community. She loved her husband by spending days on the road with him, and loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren by being the ultimate “Ma.”