- Date Of Birth: October 17, 1922
- Date Of Death: January 22, 2014
- State: Idaho
Maria Carmen Amillategui Barquin, 91, of Boise passed away peacefully at her home on Wednesday, January 22, 2014, of natural causes. She was born to Modesto Barquin and Leonarda Torre in Morton, Wyoming on October 17, 1922. Her father came to the United States at the age of 18 and found work building railroads, and later established his own ranch.
She was trained as a seamstress along with her sisters Aurora and Maria Angela, and she became very adept with a needle and at a sewing machine. These skills served her well when she came back to the United States in 1952 with her husband Antonio Amillategui and her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Teresa. After their trip across the Atlantic westbound on the maiden voyage of the S.S. United States, their first stop was in Riverton, Wyoming, where they lived for a brief time with her cousin Maria Geraud and Jack Geraud at their sheep ranch. After that, her sister, Maria, joined them, and they all moved to Boise.
Carmen and her sister, Maria, initially worked at the Owyhee Hotel, but soon got jobs as seamstresses at Mark (Buck) Jones Tailor Shop beneath the Idanha Hotel. Her career as a seamstress was long and included working for Sears, C.C. Anderson’s, Meffert & Johnson, and the Bon Marche to name a few. Additionally, she was a long standing member of St. John’s Cathedral parish and the Basque Center.
When she wasn’t working hard sewing, she loved to garden, cook, and bake. She grew wonderful vegetables and gorgeous roses that were the envy of her neighborhood. Her baking, particularly of cookies, made her the favorite aunt and grandmother. Additionally, all in the family will agree that she made fried chicken like no-one else!
Carmen was preceded in death by her husband, Antonio Amillategui; her parents–Modesto and Leonarda Barquin; her sisters–Aurora Amorebieta, Maria Angela Martiartu, Agripina Orbe, Antonia Barquin; brother–Luis Barquin; and sister-in-law—Miren Barquin. She is survived by her daughter, Teresa Grimm of Sugar Land, TX; grand-daughter, Susanna Cammann and husband, Jeff Cammann of Lawton, OK; and great-grandsons, Tucker and Jordan Antonio Cammann also of Lawton. Additionally, Carmen is survived by two sisters, Chone Ybarguengoitia of Reno, NV and Elena Garcia of Barcelona, Spain. Additionally, she is survived by many in-laws, nieces and nephews, and cousins both in the U.S. and in Spain who are too numerous to list here.
A special thanks goes to Chris Amorebieta, Mary Post, Delora Pearson, Pam Moulton, and Bill Winigar, who helped care for her both before and during her brief illness.
