“Water is a symbol of life. The water in this fountain represents the lives of four beloved women.” With these simple words, Chapala Mayor Joaquin Huerta led the May 10 dedication of the towering cantera stone fountain installed at the east end of Ajijic’s waterfront park.
Marble plaques embedded around the foot of the fountain bear the names Julia Ramos, Zara Alexeyewa, Neill James and Juanita Reed engraved in gold letters.
“Today we want to express gratitude for their contributions to our community, and take this opportunity to salute all mothers, present and absent,” Huerta remarked during the ceremony held on Mexico’s Dia de las Madres.
Huerta took advantage of the occasion to congratulate Hector España Ramos, the town delegado standing at his side, hailing him as “a hard-working person who is getting a lot of things accomplished.” He also offered a special word of thanks to the expatriate community, with a nod to Harry Bublin and other members of España’s residents’ citizen advisory committee who attended the event. There was also applause for the fountain’s donor Tom Thompson, absent that day due to out-of-town travel.The fountain stands in tribute to four steely women who left a legacy of humanitarian deeds in benefit the native populace. Spaces remain for additional plaques for others who may be deemed worthy of recognition in the future.
Doña Julia
Julia Ramos Velazquez – known fondly as Doña Julia – is remembered for her dedication to multiple social causes, not the least of which was the beautification campaign she spearheaded after the waterfront park was developed in 1996. In 2010 the Chapala city council issued a decree renaming the park in her honor. España says it was Thompson’s idea to make the fountain a tangible symbol of homage.
Doña Julia rose up from humble circumstances to become one of the first female leaders in local politics, eventually serving two terms on the Chapala city council. She was a steadfast angel to the poor and downtrodden. Born on May 10, 1925, it is perhaps no coincidence that she was revered in her later years as a matriarch for the village at large.
Among the seven offspring surviving her 2011 death are the delegado himself and brother Oscar España Ramos, a former Chapala government official and incumbent board president of the Chapala Red Cross.
La Rusa
Zara Alexeyewa was the stage name of New York native Khyra St. Albans who first came to lakeside in the 1920s while traveling the world as a professional actress and ballerina. She settled permanently in Ajijic around 1930, accompanied by her mother and Danish dancer partner and soul mate Holger Mehner.
Based on her background, foreign name and peculiar demeanor, local folks dubbed her La Rusa (the Russian). She was an iconic persona known for riding around the village on horseback dressed in extravagant garb.
Early on La Rusa got involved in a troubled foray into a gold mining enterprise. Following the deaths of her living companions in the 1940s, she made ends meet by leasing a bungalow built on her waterfront property to foreign visitors.
Several decades later Alexeyewa attempted to revive her dance career, scripting an original production entitled “Princess of the Moon” that was briefly staged at Guadalajara’s Degollado Theater. Over the ensuing years she became an ardent and outspoken advocate for the conservation of Lake Chapala, earning the admiration of more timid natives that is reflected in the memorial plaque’s inscription Defensora del Lago.
Sadly, in her last days La Rusa was swindled by an unscrupulous confidant. She died penniless in 1989. A collection of her personal memorabilia is displayed in the dining room at La Nueva Posada.
Neill James
Born in Grenada, Mississipi in 1895, Neill James would become a bold explorer of distant lands and authoress of books recounting her adventures before she put down roots in Ajijic in the early 1940s. A lingering theory suggests her literary pursuits may have been a cover for covert career as a spy during the build up to World War II.
Neill sustained injuries in back-to-back accidents while hiking on Mexico’s Popocatepetl and Paricutin volcanoes. She came to Ajijic to recover her health, finding the paradise described in the pages of “Dust on My Heart.”
Giving an important boost to the village economy, she initiated a cottage industry that employed women in producing hand-embroidered clothing. Decorative designs from that era are still reproduced by local seamstresses. A silk worm- raising and rebozo-weaving enterprise proved less successful.
Today’s generation view Neill’s impetus to education and the creative arts as her true legacy. She founded two public libraries where local youngsters were encouraged to delve into the world of books and express themselves through free access to paints and art tools. She became a patroness for a number of promising young artists, paying their way to top-notch art schools where they further developed their talents.
Prior to her death in 1994, Neill James bequeathed her home to the Lake Chapala Society. A corner of the property is utilized for the LCS children’s art program, which survives today as a living memorial to Ajijic’s most cherished expatriate pioneer.
La Japonesa
No one better represents Ajijic’s multicultural makeup that Juanita Reed. She was born and grew up as a child in Havana, Cuba in 1928, the daughter of a Japanese diplomat assigned there for a tour of duty. Back in her family’s homeland as a young woman, she met and fell in love with U.S. airman James Reed at the tail end of World War II. After leaving military service Reed stayed in Japan to marry and pursue a successful business career. Following his retirement in the early 1970s the couple traveled extensively before deciding to retire permanently in Ajijic.
Juanita quickly got involved in diverse philanthropic and cultural activities. She was a founder of the Culinary Arts Society of Ajijic (CASA) and a staunch supporter of the Chapala Red Cross and other local charities. Fluent in English and Spanish, as well as her mother tongue, she easily bridged gaps of understanding between people of diverse nationalities.
Village folks came to know her as La Japonesa and the town’s first anti-litter crusader. As head of the grass roots group Hagamalos Juntos (Let’s Do It Together), she led crowds of children around the town on Saturday morning jaunts to collect trash off the streets. She frequently visited local schools to lecture students on the spirit of cleanliness, a topic close to her heart.
Keen to perpetuate the cause, Hector España is now reviving the weekly clean-up campaign.)