Mary Louise "Mary Lou" (Arrendondo) Alvarado (b. 1935 - d. 2017) was born in Prescott on August 19, 1935 and was married at age fourteen (14).  When her twelve-year marriage ended, she was left with five children.  She raised her children by working at F.W. Woolworth’s and then worked for ten years at El Charro restaurant, before running her own restaurant, which she named Maria Louisa’s Mexican Food, for twenty-five years.  After her children were grown, Mary Lou received her G.E.D. and attended two years at Yavapai College.  She then worked for Samaritan Tower, Manpower, and Northern Arizona Council of Governments before retiring and moving to Wilhoit in 1999.  She died on February 8, 2017.

Oral History
Interviewee:  Mary Lou (Arredondo) Alvarado (b. 08/19/1935 – d. 02/08/2017)
Interviewer:  Sylvia Neely
Audio Numbers:  1481-1482
Duration: 02:04:57
Date:  March 30, 2004
Topics Discussed: The Alvarado and Arredondo families, 1940s & 1950s Prescott History, Mexican-Americans in Prescott and the Prescott "Tunnels".