![](https://heysocal.com/wp-content/themes/heymediadev/assets/img/logos/beacon_white.png)
![](https://heysocal.com/wp-content/themes/heymediadev/assets/img/logos/logo-white.png)
A memorial service will be held Saturday for Duarte Mayor Pro Tem Tzeitel Paras-Caracci, who died last month following a nearly three-year battle with lung cancer.
Paras-Caracci died June 25 at age 49.
A host of elected officials, friends, relatives and Duarte residents are expected to attend the memorial, which will be held at 10 a.m. at the Duarte Community Center, 1600 Huntington Drive. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m.
Among those set to attend are Duarte City Council members; Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte; and Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-Glendale.
Paras-Caracci was first elected to the council in 2001. She was the first Filipino-American to be elected to the Duarte City Council and the first Duarte High School graduate. She served as mayor in 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2019.
Paras-Caracci was also a member of the National League of Cities Board of Directors, the League of California Cities Board of Directors and president of the Asian Pacific American Municipal Officials. She was also a director for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, a governing board member of Foothill Transit and a board member of the Duarte Community Coordinating Council.
“We have suffered a huge loss in our city and I am profoundly saddened as Tzeitel was an immensely capable member of our council, as well as a great personal friend to me, as well as many others,” Mayor Margaret Finlay said in announcing her death last month. “Her smile and energy were infectious, and it was an honor to serve on council with her.
Born Aug. 8, 1972, in Quezon City, Philippines, and named for the eldest daughter from the Broadway musical, “Fiddler on the Roof,” Paras-Caracci and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1975 and to Duarte in 1985. She graduated from Duarte High School in 1989 and Woodbury University in Burbank.
Paras-Caracci died at her home surrounded by family, Finlay said.
Paras-Caracci is survived by her parents, Lino and Russel Paras, her husband, K.C. Caracci, stepdaughter Dr. Blake Caracci, and their son, Jack Russell, and her brothers Bertrand and John Paul George. In lieu of flowers, the family asked those that wish to honor Paras-Caracci to donate to the City of Hope at cityofhope.org/giving/give-honor-or-memory.
We are able to provide high-quality political journalism to you for free thanks to our advertisers. So that you can continue to enjoy HEYSOCAL's in-depth reporting, we ask that you please turn off your ad blocker and come on in, free of charge.
Subscribe to our newsletter for this giveaway and many more. Also, stay in the loop for SoCal news and updates.
Your subscription has been confirmed. You've been added to our list and will hear from us soon.
Your request has been confirmed! We will get in touch with you shortly.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Essential Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Essential Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
You can find more information about our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy