Nereida Corona

Nereida (Neri) Corona, age 51, passed away on June 30, 2023, succumbing to cancer after seven years of battle. Nereida was born on April 28, 1972 in Las Parotas, Michoacan, Mexico to parents Nicasio and Rafaela Corona. Nereida graduated from Argo Community High School in 1990, Summit, IL. She then went on to graduate from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1995. Neri also held a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Chicago (2004), concentrating on Marketing, Finance & Organizational Behavior. Nereida was a Research & Development, Quality & Innovation business woman with over 27 years of experience in domestic and international markets: Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Her last role was as Senior Director of R&D at Mizkan America where she led a team of 23 product, process, and packaging development professionals across Innovation, Renovation, Cost Management and Continuity types (2021 to 2023), Mount Prospect, IL. During the Covid pandemic, Nerieda founded GENios Global Consulting, LLC where she provided strategic technical, operational, design solutions to startup and mid-size companies on consumer packaged goods (2020 to 2021), Thomasville, GA. Neri also served as Vice President of R&D at Flowers Food where she led a team of 15 in product development in Innovation, Renovation and Brand Maintenance (2018 to 2020), Thomasville, GA. Nereida's professional career began at Kraft Foods, later known as the The Kraft Heinz Company (1995 to 2015). She started as a Research Engineer and quickly advanced within the company to hold multiple Director positions across different R&D businesses, Glenview, IL, with international assignments in Germany and Mexico. Neri's hobbies included reading, traveling, and most recently, playing lumosity on her iphone. She is survived by her parents Nicasio and Rafaela Corona; sister Nelva and partner Israel Ramos and nephews Carolina, Valentin, and Zara; brother Eduardo; brother Gerardo and wife Rosie and nephews Sebastian and Valerie; her partner of 15 years Guy Sandora; and their dog, Nico. Servings as pallbearers are Guy Sandora, Eduardo Corona, Gerardo Corona, Sebastian Corona, Valentin Ramos, and Ferman Villasenor. In lieu of flowers, donations should be made on her behalf to any one of the following charitable organizations or causes: Angiosarcoma Awareness (https://www.cureasc.org/) Young Women's Christian Association (https://www.ywca.org/) Catholic Charities (https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/) Visitation with family and friends will be held from 4:00 to 8:00 pm on Monday, July 10th at Sam Houston Memorial Funeral Home in Willis, Texas. Religious ceremony will be at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, July 11th, at Sagrado Corazon de Jesus in Conroe, TX. Interment will follow in Smith Memorial Park. You are invited to leave a written condolence at www.shmfh.com.

Nereida Corona

April 28, 1972 - June 30, 2023