Elizabeth Tapia Paolinelli – Ruiz

Mrs. Elizabeth Tapia Paolinelli – Ruiz, age 44, of Litchfield Park Arizona Died on September 16th, 2020 in Surprise Arizona. She was born July 29th, 1976 to Lucino Bahena and Teresa Bahena in South Lake Tahoe California.

In 1998, Elizabeth started employment at Phoenix Elementary School District. She loved her work and greatly enjoyed working with children. While working there she met Steve Villela Ruiz. The pair quickly became best friends and eventually fell in love. They both changed employment and began carpooling to Scottsdale Unified School District together.

Steve and Elizabeth married on April 20th, 2002 and their love for each other was apparent to everyone in their lives. Steve and Elizabeth just “fit together”. Steve brought the more introverted Elizabeth out of her shell and Elizabeth kept Steve’s head on straight. Their marriage was built on a strong foundation of respect, communication, trust, and friendship. Elizabeth would often joke that in her next life she would “marry for money” because she had already married her one true love. It amazed people how much time they spent together but they never got bored of each other. Their love was the kind that many people only dream about. When Steve was having a bad day Elizabeth would dance around the house like a ballerina to cheer him up. And if Steve did something wrong she quickly punctuated it with an “Ay babe!” While life wasn’t always perfect or fair they took their wedding vows to heart and always worked through the harder parts of life together as a team.

Elizabeth loved to craft and make things. She made the best-personalized T-shirts and beautiful handmade cards. She also loved to go shopping with her mom and they often went to their local thrift shop looking for deals.

Elizabeth’s favorite place in the world was South Lake Tahoe. She and Steve would take any chance they had to go camping and fishing. Elizabeth just loved the outdoors; it brought out her sense of adventure. Elizabeth never hesitated to run into the extremely cold water as she felt “like it had healing powers”. Everyone else thought she was crazy for diving into the freezing water but to her, it was exactly what she needed.  She would have spent every weekend at the lake if she could. It was her happy place. The one place where nothing else mattered; it was where she could focus on the beauty of nature and the people she was with.

Family meant the world to Elizabeth. She always made it a point to go to as many of her nieces’ softball games as she could and was even the godmother to her niece Alex. She took that role seriously and always tried to be the best role model she could for them. She made it a point to show to always show those around her love and compassion. Elizabeth was the best sister her brothers could ever ask for, and she let them know that. She loved her mom with her entire heart and made an extra effort to always spend just a little extra time with her. When she married Steve she quickly embraced his family as well and was overjoyed to see her family grow. Her family always knew they could rely on Elizabeth for a shoulder to lean on and for the advice they needed to hear.

 

Elizabeth lived her life to the fullest. She lived with passion, kindness, and love. Her memory will never be forgotten by those who knew her as she left an everlasting impression on their hearts. Elizabeth is survived by her husband Steve Villela Ruiz, her brothers Robert and Ruben Paolinelli, nieces Alex and Cherish Paolinelli, mother Teresa Paolinelli – Martinez, grandma Guadalupe Lopez Tapia, and many many friends. She was preceded in death by her father Mike Paolinelli, uncles Alfonso and Arturo Tapai, her niece Natalia Paolinelli and her grandfather Guillen Tapai.  A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, September 25th at Thompsons Funeral Chapel 923 S. Litchfield Rd. Goodyear AZ 85338. Funeral arrangements were handled by Simply Cremation and Funeral Arrangements.