Celebration of Life - Arlene Soto

Arlene Soto passed away on May 26, 2019 in Orange, California. She was a grandmother, mother, daughter, sister and aunt. She had three sons and 5 grandchildren. Arlene’s husband was Luis Duran whom she married in 2011. Arlene is the youngest of two children born to her mother’s first marriage to Jose Soto. She attended schools in Puerto Rico, New York, Louisiana and California. She was enrolled in Rancho Middle School and later went to University High School in Irvine, California. After high school she went to Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana now known as Santa Ana College. She met her first husband and father of her three sons RJ, Andy and Chris while attending college. Arlene held administrative career positions in health insurance and medical fields. She moved to Tucson, Arizona in 2016 to be closer to her grandchildren. After a year and a half she returned to California and began working for a company by the name of CoPower. I remember her excitement on getting her new job and procuring an apartment. It was shortly after that she began to show symptoms of memory problems. A few months later she was admitted to Anaheim Regional Medical Center where she was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (cjd). A rare degenerative brain disease with no cure. Arlene battled CJD for 7 months after diagnosis of this mostly unknown disease.

Arlene loved the Lord Jesus and sang beautiful Christian songs to him. She was a nurturing and wonderful daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother. She always seemed happy. A warm smile was readily available for everyone, she had an infectious laugh. She enjoyed telling stories and singing. She is survived by her husband Luis, parents Laura and Victor, brother Joseph, sister Carlina, sons RJ, Andy and Chris.