- Date Of Birth: October 26, 1923
- Date Of Death: June 26, 2017
- State: New Mexico
Mary S. Anaya, 93, of Roswell, NM, passed away peacefully on June 26, 2017 surrounded by her loved ones in her home in Albuquerque, NM. where she had resided for the last twelve years. Mary was preceded in death by her father Reyes C. Sandoval, mother Elvira G. Sandoval, her husband Pete G. Anaya, and her daughter Cyndi Lou Adams.
Mary, a miner’s daughter, was born on October 26, 1923 to Reyes C. Sandoval and Elvira Gamboa Sandoval in Bisbee, AZ. At the age of three her mother passed leaving the raising of Mary to her father and grandmother, Santos Carreaga Sandoval. Shortly after her mother’s passing, the family uprooted and migrated to Wilmington, CA. where the men of the family found work as long shore men working the docks of San Pedro and Long Beach. The American dream was alive and well for the Sandoval family. Mary was raised as an only child in a very close-knit family environment, which helped her build a strong foundation of family values, values that helped Mary live through the Great Depression and WW II. Mary was very proud of her contribution to America’s war effort by serving as a “Rosie the Riveter “in the manufacturing of B-52 bombers. It was in California that Mary met her husband, Pete G. Anaya, the man she dearly loved. Mary and Pete moved to Roswell, NM and married on June 6, 1946. This dynamic team created a union where the following came to be: 6 children, 12 grandchildren, and 24 great grandchildren.
Immediately upon her arrival in Roswell, NM, Mary was active in the fight for social justice and human rights.
