Obituaries (May 13)

Isaac Aaron Abeita

Died 2021

Isaac Abeita, age 23, a lifelong resident of Isleta, passed away on Saturday, May 1, 2021.

He is survived by his mother, Erica Abeita; sister, Ashley Abeita and her husband, Eric Cordry; great-grandparents, Barney and Frances Carrillo; godmother, Cindi Dimas; godfather, Jeff Tenorio; and many other family members and friends.

The Rosary and Mass times are pending at San Clemente Church in Los Lunas, with burial at Santa Fe National Cemetery.

Please visit our online guestbook to see updated service information for Isaac at FrenchFunerals.com. FRENCH – Lomas, 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, 505-275-3500, frenchfunerals.com

Richard F. Borden

1947-2021

Richard F. Borden, age 73, a resident of Belen, passed away on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021.

He was a member of Vietnam Veteran Association, NRA, Amateur Trapshooting Association, Albuquerque Trap Club, VFW, American Legion, Moose Lodge and Texas Tech Alumni Association.

Richard enjoyed scuba diving, hunting, trapshooting, and spending time with the family. He will be greatly missed.

Richard was preceded in death by his father, Ben Borden; mother, Betty Thompson, Borden and Carleton.

He was survived by his wife, Martha; children, Robert Hubbell, and Rebecca Masters and husband, Chris; five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Arrangements are being handled by the caring professionals at the Noblin Funeral Service Belen Chapel, 418 W. Reinken Ave., 864-4448, where an online guest register is available at noblin.com.

Aveleno Cano

1938-2021

Aveleno Cano, 82, of Belen, passed away on Wednesday, May 5, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born in Mesilla, N.M., to Luis and Clara Cano on Nov. 29, 1938. He was the youngest of 11 siblings, all who have preceded him in death. Aveleno was a U.S. Air Force veteran, and after serving his country, he moved to California with his two young children. It was there that he met and married his wife of 55 years, Angie Saavedra Cano. They moved to Belen in 1967, where they raised their six children.

Aveleno was the owner and operator of Cano’s Chevron in Belen for 12 years. He then began a career at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas, retiring as a sergeant after 18 years of service.

He is remembered and admired for many attributes, to include his mechanical skills and his calm and humble demeanor, but what stood out most was his corny sense of humor and practical jokes. He enjoyed making people smile and laugh.

Aveleno was proud of every one of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and devoted his life to his wife. His family was his greatest joy.

He is preceded in death by his parents, siblings and first wife, Carol.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Angie, of Belen; and his children, Debra and Mark Yarnelle, of Albuquerque, David and Deborah Cano, of Tempe, Ariz., Daniel Cano and Amanda Rankin, of Belen, Emily Cano, of Bosque Farms, Clara and Matthew Garcia, of Belen, and Angela Cano, of Belen; grandchildren, Erin and Adam Walker, Kristen Yarnelle, Abram and Ashley Cano, Madison Cano, Caitlin Cano, and Gonzalo and Ismael Cano; great-grandchildren, Sophia and Brenden Walker, and many nieces and nephews.

The Cano family is grateful for all those who have reached out to offer support and condolences.

A private memorial service has been held.

Arrangements were handled by the caring professionals at the Noblin Funeral Service Belen Chapel, 418 W. Reinken Ave., 864-4448, where an online guest register is available at noblin.com.

Judy Morgan

1946-2021

Judy P. (Welch) Morgan, age of 75, passed away May 2, 2021.

She was preceded in death by her parents. John W. Welch and Ruth (Eckrem) Welch of Everett, Wash.; daughter, Michelle (Morgan) Cordero; and her husband, Eugene Morgan.

Judy loved to tell her love story of life with her G.I. She met Eugene while still in high school and he remained the love of her life, even after he was called home. She eloped with her G.I. after completing high school. She was very proud of her husband. She spent her life supporting him as an Air Force wife and mom to their children.

Life was an adventure with him. She moved throughout the USA and Great Britain before moving to New Mexico. Judy enjoyed helping Eugene with the once-owned family business. She often spoke of her days running parts for him.

After losing Eugene in 2013, she did her best to continue life without him, but missed him and their daughter, Michelle, greatly.

She looked forward to weekly outings with her friend, Carla Hale. Then at the beginning of the pandemic, Carla suddenly passed away. Judy would tell people how sad it was to have lost her daughter and husband in the same year.

Judy suffered several illnesses in the last year of her life. She enjoyed spending time with her family. She had a knack for remembering birthdays and enjoyed sending greeting cards to her loved ones and friends.

She is survived by sisters, Darlena Hickey, of Everett, Wash., and Eileen Patton, of Sea-Tac, Wash.; brother, John R. Welch, of Silver Lake, Wash.; daughter, Melinda Morgan, of Eaton, N.Y.; son, Michael Morgan, of Los Lunas; and first born granddaughter, whom she helped raise and loved like a daughter, Heather Sanchez, of Colorado Springs, Colo. She’s also survived by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren living in Los Lunas, Colorado and New York, whom she loved greatly.

A viewing will be held from 4-6 p.m., Tuesday, May 18, followed by a visitation at Noblin Funeral Service in Los Lunas. Internment will be held at 12:45 p.m., Wednesday, May 19, at Santa Fe National Cemetery.

Jose R. Sanchez

1943-2021

Jose R. Sanchez, age 77, of Belen, went to meet the Lord God our creator on April 26, 2021, just 11 days after receiving his first COVID-19 vaccine.

Our father took over the responsibilities of his father at the age of 21, when his father, Fidel, was killed in a vehicle accident. He raised six children from what he created from dirt.

Jerry, as many knew him, was a farmer. He served in the Army National Guard and was a ditch digger when his first son was born. Jerry was never without a job; he worked for the Los Lunas Training School, Leon Othart’s Dairy, Allen Douglas Construction, Bud Stone, Leonard Castillo Sand and Gravel and Gregorio Castillo Construction.

At the age of about 30, he became self employed as an adobe manufacture, Adobe Mason, and later established a sand and gravel business. Our dad did some of the hardest back-breaking work to support his family.

In his younger days, Jerry worked hard and also liked to drink, fight and raise hell on his Harley Davidson chopper. The crazy times came to an end shortly after his first born son came to be. He gave up the drinking, the fighting and the Harley to take up the responsibility of being a father of six children, whom he loved.

Our father sacrificed to send his children to St. Mary’s School to receive a Catholic education. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He had a great love for God and an unwavering loyalty to the Catholic Church. He was instrumental in rebuilding many old Catholic Churches in New Mexico by donating his skills and adobes. He also donated adobes to Native American Kivas and was made a special guest of honor at Acoma. He donated his time and adobes to Habitat for Humanity of Taos, in partnership to build hope and community.

Jerry had many accomplishments in his life time. He built the first adobe structure at our nation’s capitol in Washington, D.C., for the Smithsonian Institute and was on the TV show, “How It’s Made,” featured on the Discovery channel.

With only a high school education, he published an adobe news publication. He also advised contractors with the U.S. military on adobe structures for the wars in the Middle East. Jerry was a builder; he left his mark on this world and his homes and structures will stand the test of time.

Jerry lived an extraordinary life. He traveled to Uganda Africa, where he lived and married his wife, Namayanja Gertrude Sanchez. She loved and respected him the way he always expected a wife to be. He loved her and her three children very much. The people of Uganda were very good to him, they treated him with great respect.

In his lifetime, he took many people into his home, even a Russian that ended up being investigated by the FBI. He knew what it was to be homeless and offered his home to people in need. Up to the day of his passing, he was sharing his home with his son, Anthony Sanchez, his son, Luke’s friend, Guillermo, and Guillermo’s son, Alejandro.

Our father was an imperfect man, living in a tough world. Jerry was a provider and a protector. He could burn bridges of relationships at times and was not an easy man to get along with if he felt disrespected. Jerry was a hard worker; no one can say any different.

He was self-educated, generous, charismatic, said what he thought, misunderstood by some, helped others and lived life the best he was capable of. No matter how hard life got, he always kept his faith and love for God and never stopped trying.

We loved our father and I wish him eternal peace. When he gets to Heaven’s gates may my Marine brothers that guard those gates and the Angles of Heaven welcome him to his eternal home.

Jose is survived by his loving wife, Namayanja Gertrude Sanchez of Uganda; her three children, Ssesanga John Mary Vianney, Nabbaale Vivian Bridget and Nayiga Proscovia; his sister, Josephine Sanchez; his son, Luke Sanchez and wife, Heather Sanchez; his daughter, Theresa Sanchez, who helped him in his old age; his son, Anthony Sanchez; his daughter, Jennifer Sellars and husband, Ira Sellars; his daughter, Laura Gibbs and husband, Tony Gibbs; his daughter, Marie St. John Sanchez; his grandchildren, John Sanchez, Emily Gibbs, Alathea Sellars, Cheyenne Sellars, Cadence Sellars and Rayleigh Sellars; cousin, Mathew Sanchez, whom he considered a brother; Fr. Albert, his friend; trusted worker and friend, Margaro Chavez; many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.

He was proceeded in death by his grandparents, his father, Fidel R. Sanchez; mother, Valentina G. Sanchez; brother, Dennis R. Sanchez; wife, Francis Sanchez; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Sometimes in life, the good we do is out shadowed by our hurt and anger. Let go of your hurt, forgive. Those who leave everything in God’s hands, will eventually see God’s hands in everything.

Due to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s COVID-19 restrictions and delays waiting military funeral finalization, arrangements for services through Noblin Funeral Home have not been scheduled at this time. Special thanks to Noblin Funeral Home for their compassion during this family loss.

Francisco Antonio Sisneros

1948-2021

Francisco Antonio Sisneros, age 72, of Casa Colorada, passed away at his home on May 1, 2021.

Francisco was born in Abó Viejo, Torrance County, New Mexico, next to the old mission ruins of San Gregorio, which are now part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. His family has roots there going back to the mid-1600s.

Francisco graduated from a Catholic seminary in Santa Fe (1966). He spent several years studying and working throughout Latin America. He studied at The University of New Mexico Centro Andino in Quito, Ecuador (1969-1970). He later served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras (1971-1973).

Francisco wrote and edited in the Bilingual Institute at The University of New Mexico (1974–1975), and for several years supervised a bilingual materials research and development program at the University of Arizona in Tucson (1975-1981). Francisco was a school administrator with the Socorro schools (1981-2001).

Francisco was a devoted husband and father, retired educator and a life-long student of New Mexico history and culture. As time has permitted over the last 42 years, he has researched ancestors of the Hispanic families of New Mexico. His primary research interests were in lesser-known figures of 17th, 18th and early 20th century New Mexico.

He was a co-founder of the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico and a senior research associate with the center. He was also affiliated with the New Mexico Genealogical Society and the Historical Society of New Mexico. He has written more than 60 articles based on primary records on New Mexico history and on the origins of the Hispanic families of New Mexico.

Days before his passing, he published a book of his childhood memoirs, “A Boy from Abó Viejo.”

Francisco was preceded in death by his parents, Antonio Sisneros (1918-1991) and Maria Aurora Garcia (1918-1986); infant son, Francisco Jr., and sister Maria Eloisa Sisneros.

He is survived by his loving wife of 44 years, Inez DelValle Sisneros; daughters, Maria Andrea Sisneros Wichman and husband Stuart, and Rebeca Sisneros Saiz and husband Johnny Ray; grandchildren, Esteban Sisneros, Anja Wichman and Aurora Saiz; siblings, Toby Sisneros and wife, Elvia, Orlydia Sisneros, Inez Chavez and husband, Jake, Teresa Ruiz and husband, Maurilio, Michael Sisneros and wife, Lilia, Judy Critchfield and husband, Douglas, and many beloved uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins and dear friends.

Our family is sincerely grateful to the medical staff and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital, particularly to Dr. Yang Wang, and to the ICU staff and nurses at Rust Prebyterian Hospital for their exceptional care and loving support.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, private services will be limited to close family and friends.

In lieu of flowers and in honor of Francisco’s giving nature, please consider donating to the American Cancer Society or your favorite charity.

Arrangements are being handled by the caring professionals at the Noblin Funeral Service Belen Chapel, 418 W. Reinken Ave., 864-4448, where an online guest register is available at noblin.com.

Mary C. Torres

1927-2021

If the quality of a person’s life is reflected by the love they gave, and the love they received, the life of Mary C. Torres shines as brightly as the stars that illuminate the heavens.

Mary was the mother of four children — Lawrence Torres Jr. (Dianna), Richard (Dickie) Torres, Randy Torres (Kay) and Arlene Torres-Warden — and the reigning matriarch of a prominent Socorro business family.

She died in the early morning hours of Friday, April 30, 2021, with family praying at her bedside. Her legacy includes 13 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

She was the undisputed cornerstone for an extended global family that relied on her for love and counsel. Her children granted her wish to spend her final years in the home she had lived in for almost 70 years, in fulfilling a promise made to their father, Lawrence Torres Sr., who died in 2015. The couple was married for 65 years.

Theirs was a story of love, commitment, hard work and shared values as together they faced the trials and tribulations of everyday life, based on a firm foundation of faith and the belief that family always came first. They practiced their Catholic faith by living it, no matter what obstacles crossed their path.

Mary was born Sept. 15, 1927, (officially named Maria Ignacia Angelina Cordova y-Lopez), to Don Jose Dolores and Dona Josefita Lopez Cordova in Jarales, a small farming community in Valencia County, west of the Rio Grande.

As the youngest of 13 children, 11 of whom reached adulthood, she was called “Baby,” not only by her siblings, but by nieces and nephews, many older than Mary herself. Mary recalled life in Jarales as one of hard work laced with huge family gatherings and lots of shared laughter and tears.

A special place was an old livestock barn, which Mary thought of as her own playhouse, where she could escape the incessant chatter of her elders to dream the dreams of little girls. Sometimes her father would give her an egg that she would eagerly run to the local mercantile and trade it for a piece of candy.

She would watch her father make his daily trips to the fields where he grew chile, corn, beans and other crops, along with the livestock necessary to sustain his large family. Her mother was always cooking, she remembered; even in later years, her mom would sit in a chair for hours cleaning pinto beans, sometimes as many as 50 pounds at a time.

It was that Cordova work ethic that formed her own view of life, marriage and family, and which she passed on to her own children and the generations that followed, along with an unshakable faith that was to shoulder her during the tough times.

Mary was a child of the Depression; and, like others of that era, learned lessons of thrift and doing without. Kids made their own fun in those days, and Mary never lacked for opportunities to find joy in simple things. She also lived through four years of a world war and the halcyon days that followed the end of hostilities in 1945. Those were heady times, as thousands of young American soldiers returned home, secure in a lasting peace and dreams fueled with renewed hopes for their futures.

Among those returning soldiers was Lawrence Torres. Lawrence and Mary met one summer evening at a fiesta dance in Belen, when the former soldier from Socorro met the dark-haired señorita with the sparkling eyes. Mutually smitten, the two began to keep company under the watchful eyes of Mary’s older sisters, not to mention her strict parents. They dated for two years, often double-dating with Ruth (Cordova) and Sosimo Padilla. Although Ruth was Mary’s niece, the two were raised together and were best friends.

Lawrence and Mary were married on Oct. 7, 1950, at San Miguel Church in Socorro. They set up house in a small apartment on School of Mines Road. Mary laughed recalling the first time she made pancakes for her new husband. Lawrence complained that the pancakes were not like those made by his mom. Mary responded by flinging the inferior flapjacks at her husband.

In time Mary became an excellent cook, turning out incomparable beans, unrivaled red chile and tortillas. No Good Friday would be complete without her torta, quelites, chile, beans, salmon patties and sopa. For Christmas, her family looked forward to carne enchiladas, tamales, chile rellenos, and biscochitos. No one cooked like Mom!

She also starched and ironed Lawrence’s white Chevron work shirts, washed hundreds and hundreds of diapers by hand, prepared three meals a day (Lawrence didn’t like leftovers), after-school snacks and birthday cakes. She raised her children with a firm but loving hand. Like a mother hen, she worried and clucked over her large brood, counseling and scolding as needed, right up to the day she died.

Mary balanced burgeoning health issues with daily walks around the New Mexico Tech campus and its neighborhoods, which always renewed her spirits. She had been diagnosed with diabetes over 40 years ago, which she handled with stoicism and extraordinary self-discipline. Mary also suffered debilitating back pain after several surgeries, but never let any of these setbacks dim her indomitable spirit.

In her final years, she cherished the companionship and assistance of her caregiver Maria Ramos Diaz, and delighted in phone calls from longtime friends and family visits, always the highlight of her day. Not a single night went by without finding her in bed, a rosary in her hand. If there is an express flight to heaven, Mary C. Torres already had her ticket punched.

Pallbearers will be Veronica Padilla Prager, Phyllis Padilla Owens, Maria Ramos Diaz, Ramona Tafoya, Scott Torres, Randy Torres Jr. Honorary pallbearers are Gabe Saucedo Jr., Arthur D. Cordova Jr. Services are scheduled for Friday, May, 14, with a rosary at 9:30 a.m. and Mass at 10 a.m. at San Miguel Church in Socorro.

Please be aware seating inside the church will be limited due to COVID restrictions. Internment to be at a later date at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to San Miguel Church and The University of New Mexico Cancer Center.

Mary’s care has been entrusted to Daniels Family Funeral Services, 309 Garfield St., Socorro, 575-835-1530. To view information or leave a condolence, please visit danielsfuneral.com.