Eliza V. Martinez

Eliza V. Martinez 91. In the early morning of July 13, she entered into her heavenly inheritance to be with her Divine Father and join the Virgin of Mt. Carmel (a devotion she had all her life with a statue on her home altar that belonged to her parents). A lifelong resident of the heart of old town Alcalde, in a home that she and her husband provided for their family for generations .She fell into eternal sleep after a few months of declining health and surrounded by her loving family and friends. She was born in the hill of Cundiyo to the late Canuto and Augustina Truijllo Vigil on January 10, 1924. A family of illustrious weavers, a path she knew was not her vocation in life. She decided to live with her godmother in Santa Cruz and graduate as the valedictorian of the class of 1942. During those years of the peak of WW2 and having her three brothers going to fight in the battlefields along with the man she would marry. She studied Secretarial studies and worked for a time in San Juan and eventually married the late Adriano Chia Martinez. She worked for the New Mexico School Food Lunch program and the State of New Mexico for over thirty years successfully- a task for a woman who never learned to drive a car and walked from her home at times to the highway to catch a ride. A determined soul, steadfast spirit and with her humorous sense of wisdom cheered many.

She outlived many of her family and is preceded in death by her in-laws, Cristobal and Tomasita Martinez, siblings: Viola, Gerson, George, siblings-in-law, Emma and Fabiola Vigil. From the Alcalde clan she outlived all of Adrianos family. Luis and Erlinda Moya, Zacarias and Sophia Pana, Tony and Amalia Maestas. She preceded in death from her own immediate family, her daughter Laura Sears and a grandson, Leroy Martinez Jr. A devoted Roman Catholic and lifelong parishioner of San Juan de los Cabelleros, benefactor of the Confradia de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno of Alcalde and the Lunch for Seniors. A short illness that with the help of Amber Care helped the journey more peace of which the family is eternally grateful. Eliza leaves behind a wealth of family who await to join her. She is survived by her children, Cristobal and wife Carrie Mae Martinez, Tomasita and Marylena all of Alcalde son-in-law Donald Sears of Rio Rancho and a brother, Anastacio Vigil of Chimayo, 9 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren and many loving nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers were: George T. Martinez, Dominic A. Martinez, Donald Sears Jr., Robert Sears, Jackie Vigil, and Danny Cordova.

A Rosary was recited on Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at St. Annes Catholic Church in Alcalde, NM. Mass of Christian Burial took place on Thursday, July 16, 2015 also at St. Annes Catholic Church.
She was buried next to her husband Adriano at the Alcalde Catholic Cemetery.


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