Gloria Ann “Mabba” Garcia

Gloria Ann “Mabba” Garcia

1942-2022

Gloria Ann “Mabba” Garcia, age 80, a resident of Los Chavez, passed away surrounded by her loving and devoted family on Oct. 6, 2022. She was a member of San Clemente Catholic Church.

Services will be held on Friday, Oct. 14, at San Clemente Catholic Church. A public visitation will take place at 8:30 a.m., with a Rosary to be recited at 9:30 a.m., and a Funeral Mass to be celebrated at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Our Lady of Belen Memorial Gardens.

Gloria’s family were her pride and joy, and she was devoted to them and they adored her. She was a mama bear when it came to her children and grandchildren.

Gloria developed a passion for running in her mid-30s and begun racing in 5K and 10K marathons, and the La Luz Trail Race for many years. If you are from the Los Chavez area, you probably saw her running and/or biking about the streets of Belen and Los Lunas. Her family believes she is running again now in Heaven.

Gloria was also honored to have coached the distance runners for Belen High School girls track team for five years. She developed great relationships with “her girls,” and was very proud of them.

Gloria was preceded in death by her son, Kenneth; daughter, Gerri Ann Baca; parents, William and Gabrielle Martinez; sister, Nellie Archer; brothers, Eddie and Ronnie Martinez; mother and father-in-law, Atanacio and Tomasita Garcia; sister-in-law, Mary Elsa Griego; brother and sister-in-law, Ray and Priscilla Garcia; and son-in-law, Glenn Benavidez.

She is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, Tomas Garcia; her children, Patricia Romero, Marla (Anthony) Carrejo, Tommy Dean (Dolores) Garcia, Randy (Shirley) Garcia, Wayne (Dolores) Garcia, Dwayne (Geraldine) Garcia and Gabriella Lynn; grandchildren, Glenn Jr., Melanie, Lisa, Jessica, Jemile, Dylan, Josyln, Jerel, Trysten, Jaque, Jonathan, Kevin, Raylene, Cassandra, Thomas, Viviana, Layla, Juliana, Joie, Rhiannon, Apryl Lynn and Bradley.

She is also survived by her 26 great-grandchildren, brothers, Robert (Marie) Martinez, Garry (Denise) Martinez, Michael (Charolette) Martinez and Andy (Myra) Martinez; sister, Lorraine (Alvin) Baca; sisters-in-law, Emerlinda Lewis, Mary Ellen (Ernie) Montoya and Priscilla Knotts; and brother-in-law, Larry Garcia.

Pallbearers will be her four sons, Tom, Randy, Wayne and Dwayne Garcia.

A special thank you goes to granddaughter, Apryl Lynn Ortega, for the loving care she provided to our mom and grandma during the last weeks of her life. Also, a heartfelt thank you goes to Anita, Monique, Amanda and Ambercare Hospice, for their dedicated and compassionate support of our mom and our family during Mom’s last days.

Please sign Gloria’s online tribute at romerofuneralhomenm.com. Romero Funeral Home, 609 N. Main St., Belen.