Hilda Ayala-Gamero

Hilda Noemi Ayala-Gamero, 61, passed away surrounded by her loved ones on Friday, February 25. Hilda was born in La Libertad, El Salvador on September 26th, 1960 to Jose Ayala Chavez and Ofelia Gamero.

Hilda has always had the desire to serve people. She started selling her now-famous pupusas at the local bus stops in El Salvador. Seeking a better and more stable life for herself and her kids, she started her journey to entrepreneurship in 1988 when she immigrated to the United States. She landed herself in Los Angeles, California where she worked for several restaurants such as Yum-Yum Donuts and Chicago Hotdogs. After Several Years, Hilda made the decision to move to Indianapolis to provide her family a more calm and cheaper living environment.

She worked at several factories such as Simpson and Handelman before making the move to open a small grocery store on the westside of Indianapolis in 1997. Her goal was to provide the small, but growing, Central American community with a place to purchase food items like the ones back home. She started with just a few aisles of canned goods, fresh fruits, bottled drinks, and breads. Her business became Indianapolis’s first Central American centered grocery store. Then in 2001, the opportunity to purchase an already existing Mexican restaurant landed in her grasp. She purchased the restaurant and opened what is now La Guanaquita Restaurante. It was originally located off of Lafayette and West 30th Street on the Westside but moved to a bigger and more visible spot located on West 38th Street on Moller Road, where it stands today. She quickly became a success and was deemed Indianapolis’s first Pupuseria. Fast forward to now, and it’s obvious to see that Hilda poured her heart and soul into her restaurant. She created the menu from scratch and eventually added several combo plates with the help of her niece, Ana Palencia.

Hilda was very involved in her churches and passionate about her love for the Lord. She could be seen and heard at several of the Catholic churches in Indianapolis such as St. Mary, St. Gabriel, St. Patrick, and St. Phillip. She was a godmother to countless people, in which she shared her immense love for Jesus with them. She would also guide and encourage several of her family members to embrace the Lord, and the greatest pleasure for her was to witness several of her goddaughters get married in the church.

Hilda is survived by her four children, Jose Garcia (Josselyn), Luis Garcia (Nuria), Reyes Garcia (Kelli), and Mirna Garcia (Julio), and special Goddaughter/Niece Sara Hernandez (Omar). She adored her 15 grandchildren and her 4 great-grandchildren. Hilda is also survived by her 5 siblings, Neftali, Hernan, Saul, Francisca, and Eliud. She is preceded in death by her sister Maria Antonia Gamero and Fidel De Jesus Ayala.

A celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, March 3, at Lafayette Banquet Hall located at 2440 Lafayette Road, 46222 from 2:00pm-8:00pm. A Catholic Mass will be held at St. Mary’s downtown Indianapolis at 12:00pm on Friday, March 4. All are welcome to attend.