Margarita Meza was a kind, “sassy” young woman who was enthusiastic about online shopping, craved Crumbl Cookies and was “extremely smart.” Her boyfriend Christian Cortez-Rogel had a passion for working on cars, enjoyed enchiladas and tacos, and “would do anything to help anyone.”
Together, the young Monmouth residents proudly served in the Illinois National Guard.
Friends and family envisioned bright futures for Margarita, 21, and Christian, 22. But this week, the Monmouth community grieves an unthinkable loss.
Margarita and Christian were killed early Saturday in a single vehicle traffic accident in Viola. The crash occurred at 3:58 a.m. Saturday on U.S. 67 just south of Illinois 17, according to the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office. When deputies arrived, they found that a vehicle had struck a residence, causing a fire and killing the occupants of the vehicle. They were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office. The accident is still under investigation.
‘They couldn’t be without each other’
“They were a really beautiful couple,” said Christian’s oldest sister Araceli Lopez Cortez. “They loved each other. They couldn’t be without each other.”
Christian Cortez-Rogel was a 2019 graduate of Monmouth-Roseville High School where he played both soccer and was a captain of the Titans wrestling team. A 2020 M-R grad, Margarita Meza played soccer for the Titans. She later graduated from Carl Sandburg College in 2022.
Brian Gabel, who teaches civics and economics at Monmouth-Roseville, said Margarita and Christian stood out from most of his students.
“Both Maggie and Christian were very polite, and well-mannered,” Gabel said. “And they were a little quiet. They were both just extremely well-liked.”
Margarita was born in Rushville but later moved to Monmouth with her family. She worked at Axline Pharmacy in Monmouth.
Obituary: Margarita Meza – January 15, 2002 ~ July 22, 2023
Griselda Rico has been best of friends with Margarita since the second grade. They went to school together, hung out together, worked part-time jobs together and each served in the 2123 Forward Support Company of the Illinois National Guard based in Milan.
“I actually convinced her to join,” Rico said. “She wasn’t sure at first. I joined on a whim, and she decided to enlist about a month later.
“She was a pretty small girl, but she was a truck driver and would drive these really big trucks. She wasn’t scared at all.”
Rico said she and Maggie — Margarita’s nickname — were inseparable as friends. They were pharmacy clerks at Axline Pharmacy and were scheduled to work together this past Saturday.
“When she didn’t show up, I figured maybe she was out late or forgot to charge her phone,” Rico said. “But as time went on, I thought it was a little weird.
“I knew something was wrong.”
Margarita loved to shop
Asked to describe her friend, Griselda Rico said, “Some people would say she was sassy. She always had a smile on her face. She was always happy.
“And she was really, really smart. She was good in school. She was good in biology. She loved sciences.”
Margarita and Griselda loved to shop.
“We would shop A LOT,” Griselda said with a laugh. “Whenever we had time, we would online shop. We’d say, ‘ooh, I really like that, should I get it?’ And we’d say, “Yeah, get it, it!’ Things like clothes, shoes and makeup.”
Margarita’s brother Steven Meza can attest to his sister’s affinity to shopping.
“There were always packages waiting for her at the door,” Steven said. “Nobody knew what they were, but they were always for her. She loved to have a new outfit. Her room was packed with clothes.”
Steven said his sister spent a lot of time in her room studying, noting “she definitely the smartest of the three of us.
“And she loved to eat. She loved mom’s homemade quesadilla, and her tamales, too.”
Griselda said she and Margarita would scout for new eating stops when traveling out of town to get their nails done. She added Crumbl Cookies became a favorite stop for Margarita.
Margarita was once the lone girl on the Monmouth-Roseville boys soccer team before the school added a girls team.
Asked to describe his sister, Steven said, “She had a great smile. She really made sure to take care of her teeth — they were always so white.”
Margarita’s father Rogelio Meza Barroso said, “She was very pretty.”
He ‘would do anything for anyone’
Christian was born in Del Rio, Texas, before eventually moving to Monmouth. He was a mechanic at Brad Deery Honda in West Burlington. Iowa.
Obituary: Christian Cortez-Rogel – October 13, 2000 ~ July 22, 2023
Christian and Margarita started dating on June 25, 2017. Family know the exact date because of a memory book Margarita made for her boyfriend, containing special dates, memories and photos.
Cortez-Rogel said the loss of her brother hits especially hard.
“It’s so hard, because I raised him,” she said. “I was there for him when my parents worked.
“He was noble. He was a good person — a really, really good person. He would do anything for anyone.”
Cortez-Rogel recalls a story where Christian saw an older person stranded on the shoulder of the interstate and her brother turned around and helped the motorist change a flat tire.
Christian, according to his sister “had a passion for cars. He has been working on cars for sometime and really wanted to be a mechanic.”
Cortez-Rogel said her brother loved family.
“He was really looking forward to meeting my youngest daughter who is just six months old,” she said. “And he never made it.”
‘She had a lot of potential’
Asked about his military service, Cortez-Rogel said, “Christian wanted to serve his country. He loved his country, and he loved serving in the National Guard.”
Griselda Rico said it will be difficult to move on without her friend Margarita.
“It’s going to be tough,” Griselda said. “I cried a lot at first. But I try to remind myself of how smart she was, and she wouldn’t want me to stop going to school. She had a lot of potential. It’s going to be tough going back to work without her.”
Surviving Margarita Meza are her parents, Rogelio Meza Barroso and Laura Mendez Viveros of Monmouth; two brothers, Steven Meza and Rogelio Meza both of Monmouth; two aunts, Tomasa Martinez Mendez, Sonia Sanchez; two uncles, Rodrigo Martinez Mtz, Rigoberto Mendez Viveros; her cousins, Anthony Mendez, Alexander Mendez, Victoria Mendez, Mia Pilgrim, Brendon Pilgrim, and Jonathan Martinez.
A Mass of Christian Burial for Margarita Meza will be at 6 p.m., Friday at Immaculate Conception Church, Monmouth. Visitation will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday prior to the Mass at the church.
Surviving Christian Cortez-Rogel are his parents, Jose and Reyna (Rogel) Cortez of Monmouth; his siblings, Araceli Lopez Cortez of Sioux City, NE, Nadia Guadalupe Castro of Chariton, Iowa, Pablo Cortez of Muscatine, Iowa, Alberto Cortez of Beardstown and Magali Cortez of Monmouth; one uncle, Mario Cortez and one aunt, Gabriela Cortez both of Chicago, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Mass of the Christian Burial for Christian Cortez-Rogel will be 6 p.m., Friday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Monmouth. An additional funeral service will be at 2 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4 with a visitation prior to the services from 12:30-2 p.m. at McGuire & Davies Funeral Home and Crematory, Monmouth.
