Grace R. Schmitt

Grace R Schmitt, 85 of Santa Fe, NM passed away peacefully at 12:55am on May 15, 2017.
Grace was born on November 14, 1931 in Palatka, Florida to Arthur and Nonie (Moore) Hollenbeck. She left Florida in 1966, moving first to Texas and then New Mexico where she still resided at her death. She did visit Florida on many occasions, to see family and go to the beach. She was widowed in January 2007 when her husband Joseph Schmitt passed away. Although she did not complete high school, she was an intelligent, self-educated woman. She started what proved to be a life-long interest at the age of 12 working in the food industry and progressed to Managing and owning her own restaurant several times, the most recent being the Card House in Cerrillos, NM from the late 1970’s through the early 80’s. She also loved fishing, which also began as a child when her father, a commercial fisherman used to take her with him. She also loved music, books, crosswords and movies, but most of all she loved people. She enjoyed having visitors and always said if she was asleep, to wake her up, so as not to miss a visit. She was baptized on October 7, 1989 as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and she enjoyed telling people about her beliefs and encouraging others to read the Bible, which she used to do with her very good friend, Susie Roybal.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph Schmitt, daughter, Patricia Aragon and granddaughters, Patricia Rose and Amanda Herrera as well as her parents and her sisters, Mae Harper, MaryAnn Patterson and Betty Carroll, brother, Rolie Hollenbeck.
She is survived by her son, Bruce Allen, wife Marian; her daughter, Linda Mares, husband John; daughter Deborah Stone and Pat Bajarano; stepson, Larry Schmitt; granddaughter, Angela Smith; grandson, Ted Mares, wife Kathleen; granddaughter, Susan Torres, husband, Rob; granddaughter, Josette Otero, husband, Chris, son Kyle; granddaughter, Maria Copeland, husband Jerry, son Dylan; grandson, Bill Tabor and Jessica Baca; granddaughter, Wendy Romero, husband Junior, daughter Ashley; grandson, Eric Blowers, wife Samantha, children David, Allen & Victoria; granddaughter, Nicole Schultz, husband Michael, children Blake, Amanda and Caitlin; great-grandson Joseph Herrera, daughters Amanda and Jasmine; great-grandson Salomon Mares, wife Stephanie, children Kyle, Jayda and Dimitrie, great-granddaughter Michelle Cruz, husband Robert, children Eli, Estelle and Ender; great-granddaughter Melanie Ware, husband Matt, daughters Mariah and Maliah; great-granddaughter, Paris Acosta, husband Alex, children Khloe and Cameron; great-grandson, Nehemiah, children Razzel and Nehemiah Jr; great-grandson, Jeremiah Romero, children Nicco and Leilani; sister, Alice Hurley, husband Jack; brother-in-law Ted Patterson ( wife Mary Ann deceased); Nieces- Jackie, Nancy, Crystal, Barbara, Cathy, Marlene; Nephews- Joey, Jeffery, James, Junior, Michael, Stanley and Ben and their families.
Memorial talk to be held on Saturday, May 27, 2017 at 10am, Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on 3408 Vereda Baja, Santa Fe, NM