MILWAUKEE (CBS58) — While many of us celebrate Halloween, others are just starting another Fall celebration: Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The holiday started in Mexico thousands of years ago to honor our loved ones who are no longer with us.
On November 1 and 2, many Latin Americans believe that spirits of your loved ones come back to earth, brought back through the things they loved in life, left on ofrendas (altars).
A staple often seen on ofrendas is bread of the dead, or pan de muertos. It’s a round piece of bread with additional bread detailing on top, appearing as bones or teardrops. Roberto Villafuentes, owner and baker at La Nueva Bakery on Milwaukee’s south side said he anticipates making around 2,500 this fall.
Whether covered in colorful sugar or in sesame seeds, once the finishing touches are done and the bread is baked, they’re ready to be placed on ofrendas. “It makes me happy to see people come and buy our pan de muerto. It’s a dream come true, actually,” shared Villafuentes.
As day of the dead recently popularized in the United States, it was a chance for people like Robert Sanchez Jr. to get to know his ancestors. He’s a local artist who learned his ancestors also had a creative side, “my father on my mother’s side, he was a musician and I just found that out recently” he shared.
“To me it’s a spiritual connection. I always feel they’re with me. I feel like they’re cheering me on, excited about the things that I do,” said Sanchez Jr.
Maggie Kuhn was setting up her sixth altar at Latino Arts, in memory of her son Michael Jacobus: “I have a wonderful son named Michael who died in a car crash in 2020 at age 23 but he lived a beautiful and full, creative and adventurous life in those 23 years. And this is part of how Michael’s legacy and memory and soul lives on, is by me putting through this altar and then others coming to see it.”
On the altar are sour patch kids, chips, a hoodie, hat, and other mementos from Michael’s life…