Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2022
Paula Morales was born in Coyoacán, Mexico, June 29, 1940. Her parents were Luis Morales and Emilia Munguia Morales.
Coyoacán is a borough in Mexico City. The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means place of coyotes, when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic village on the southern shore of Lake Texcoco dominated by the Tepanec people. Against Aztec domination, these people welcomed Hernán Cortés and the Spanish, who used the area as a headquarters during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and made it the first capital of New Spain between 1521 and 1523.
The village and later municipality of Coyoacán remained completely independent of Mexico City through the colonial period into the 19th century. In 1857, the area was incorporated into the then Federal District when this district was expanded. Farms, former lakes, and forests were developed, but many of the former villages have kept their original layouts, plazas, and narrow streets and have conserved structures built from the 16th to the early 20th centuries.
Paula married Duane Alan Johnson, son of Lawrence and Myrtle (Hansen) Johnson, on February 12, 1969, in Mexico City.
Paula had three children: Gina, Norberto, and Carlos. Duane, who proudly served in the United States Army and was a Vietnam War veteran, adored Paula and was a proud father to the three children.
Paula, Duane, and the three children, Gina, Burt, and Carlos, moved from Mexico City to Shakopee in the early fall of 1971. The Mexican Americans were one of the first groups of people from south of the boarder to move and stay in Shakopee.
Paula Morales Johnson, age 76, of Shakopee, entered eternal life on Monday, November 28, 2016, at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park.
Paula is survived by her husband, Duane; son and daughter, Norberto Munguia and Gina Morales; grandchildren, Tina, Tony, Sara, Jose, Enrique, Rafael, Migeal, and Benito Morales; great-grandchildren, Mason, Jalen and Zoey. She was preceded in death by her son, Carlos Morales.
Funeral was on Sunday, December 4, 2016, at McNearney-Schmidt Funeral and Cremation, 1220 3rd Avenue East in Shakopee with Father Erik Lundgren conducting the service. Paula was buried at the Catholic Cemetery, 830 10th Avenue West, in Shakopee.