Mary Gallegos

Mary Guadalupe Gallegos was born on January 7, 1928 in Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Gertrude and Antonio Gallegos. At eleven years old, when her mother passed away, Mary took on a mother's work. This choice was not because anyone told her to, but because love left her no other choice. Mary gathered her younger siblings close and did what came naturally. Mary was the heartbeat of her family. With her father working long days on the railroads, Mary stayed home and raised her three younger siblings. Nothing separated her family because Mary refused to let that happen. Even then, she knew who she was meant to be - a mother.

That calling never left her.

At sixteen, Mary met the love of her life, Johnny Louis Gallegos. True to her nature, she did not make it easy for him. When Johnny fi rst asked Mary out on a date, she said no. This was not out of doubt, but out of duty. She still had a little sister to take care of, and that came fi rst. In 1940s New Mexico, it was not common for a young woman to turn a man away, but Mary was never one to bend for convention. Johnny persisted, and that gentle persistence became the quiet rhythm of their life. Together, they built a 66 year love on patience, faith, and devotion.

Fifteen years and several little ones later, Johnny and Mary made their home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, she raised her children, Howard, Carole, Marc, Deborah, Jeanette, and Traci, with the same steadfast heart she had as a girl in Santa Rosa. Mary cooked three square meals a day, never missed her Friday hair appointment, and somehow always kept her red lipstick perfectly applied - often without ever needing a mirror. Her red hair, her red lips, her red nails, were her warmth. Mary was the color, grace, and constancy in a world that never slowed down. Mary's love was in the details, and it did not stop with her grandchildren. Every Christmas, she cooked breakfast and enchiladas for the entire family - stacked, never rolled - and she'd order everyone out of her "one-butt kitchen." She handmade blankets for every member of their family, each one stitched with precision. To be wrapped in one of her giant blankets was to be wrapped in her practical and warm love. She called everyone on their birthday, never missing a single one. Somehow, even with the chaos of children and grandchildren, she made it all look eff ortless.

One of her favorite stories, and ours, was the day that her mother taught her how to make tortillas. Mary stood beside her at the counter, using her hands as measuring cups, and watching every movement with concentration. When it came time for Mary to roll her own, she pressed the dough just as she had seen her mother do, but instead of turning it in careful circles, she moved her rolling pin from side to side. Her mother laughed and said her tortilla looks like a cow's face. From then on, Mary's uniquely shaped tortillas were her signature. She would shape the tortillas into hearts or press initials into the dough for her grandchildren using her long red fi ngernails. If you were lucky enough to sit in her kitchen, you would remember the smell of the cast iron skillet, the quick sizzle as the dough met heat, and the way she would smile when she handed you the fi rst, warm tortilla.

Mary prayed the rosary every day and went to church every Sunday, living her faith not through grand gestures but through constancy, meals, phone calls, and the simple act of showing up. Mary did not clock in or out of any job. Mary's work was the generations of children she raised. From the moment she was eleven years old, she carried the title of "mother," and she never set it down. She mothered her siblings, her children, her grandchildren, and even those who were not related by blood. Because of her love, we all exist. Not just in the literal sense, but in the way we gather, the way we love, and in the way we remember. Mary leaves behind a legacy that cannot be measured: the faith she lived by, the love she gave freely, and the memory of her red lipstick and warm tortillas.

Mary Guadalupe Gallegos is survived by her brother Honorato Gallegos, her six children Howard Gallegos (Linda Morgan), Carole G. Gallegos-Esquíbel (Isidro "Sider" Esquíbel), Marc P. Gallegos (Yvonne Gallegos), Deborah L. Bisnett (her late partner, Zarek Padilla), Jeanette L. Montaño (Harold Montaño), and Traci O. Phillips (Robert G. Phillips), along with twelve grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, all of whom she guided with love through four generations.

Mary's family would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the medical staff at Presbyterian Rust Medical Center and to the Emergency Medical Technicians who provided such compassion and care in Mary's fi nal days. Your kindness and professionalism will never be forgotten.

A Rosary will be held on Tuesday, November 4 at 9:00 a.m., followed by a 9:30 a.m. Mass at Risen Savior Catholic Church, 7701 Wyoming Boulevard, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109. Interment will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Santa Fe National Cemetery, 501 North Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501. In lieu of fl owers, please donate to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America or Gerard's House in Mary's honor.

https://alzfdn.org/donate/

https://gerardshouse.org/donate/