Fidelina Cornejo-Lynch

If you ever had the privilege of tasting Mama Chola's cooking, you already know that she showed love through her cooking. Her signature dish was her juicy, aromatic and tasty Thanksgiving turkey. Her tallarines verdes (Peruvian Pesto dish) con papa la huancaina was loved by everyone but especially her grandkids. The birthday cakes she made from scratch for every child, nephew, niece, church family and friends came from a place of love. She made one of her niece’s wedding cakes one time, it was so big and beautiful. Her church family loved her cooking, one thing they knew for sure was she was going to feed them something good, Peruvian food of course. We all knew her as Ma, mami, Mama Chola or Chola and others may know her as Fidelina. She was 71 years old, of Colbert, GA, died on July 29th, 2026, and the world is a quieter, less flavorful place without her.

Fidelina was born on March 31, 1955, in Lima, Peru, the second eldest of eleven children born to Pascual and Dimas Cornejo. She had three daughters, Beatriz, Helena & Paulina who changed her life forever. She raised three children as a single mother and helped in the raising of nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

She was the adventurous pioneer of her family. She came to the USA in 1982 alone with no family, looking to make a better way for herself and help open doors for her family back home. She worked many jobs from cleaning offices to factory jobs, opening an alteration shop alongside her sister and having 3-4 side jobs in baking, altering clothes, doing hair and cooking. All the while keeping a smile on her face, helping her church family and instilling these values in her girls. She devoted herself to God and wherever she went she spoke about the love of God, his blessings on her life and family. She was a praying mother and grandmother to all her family. She leaned on God with all her faith through many years of hard work and accomplishments. She finished cosmetology school with the little English she could speak and was proud to have completed that. Her real job was being Mama Chola to her babies, making sure they were always cared for and that everyone she knew also knew of her grandkids, and how proud she was of each one of her babies. She was the type of lady that would give her last to make sure everyone had a plate at the table, roof over their head and conversation if needed. She never met a stranger.

Fidelina is survived by her children, Beatriz, Helena, and Paulina; her eleven grandchildren; her brothers Willy, Rodolfo, Rafael, Cesar and sisters, Hayde, Beatriz, Maria and Nancy; and more extended family and friends than could fit in any church.

A Christian Burial will be celebrated on Sunday, August 16th, at 3:00 PM at Athens Memory Garden.