Stella Cordova celebrated her hundredth birthday on April 20. But she's the one who gave Denver the gift: Chubby's, the old drive-in at 1231 West 38th Avenue that she turned it into a neighborhood icon, as well as a purveyor of the town's hottest, meanest green chile.

Stella kept an eye on that green chile and all the other Mexican dishes she introduced at the drive-in she bought forty years ago, stopping in almost every day even as she passed the century mark.

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But now that run is over: Stella Cordova passed away yesterday. Via con dios.