- Date Of Birth: August 8, 1923
- Date Of Death: May 27, 2017
- State: New Mexico
Siria Garcia passed away peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of May 27 in the company of her beloved daughter Gloria and son Fred. She was thankful to the people that helped care for her until her last day including granddaughter Gina Aralica her great grand-son Elijah Aralica and Donna Sanchez; her daughter Sylvia Rueda who would visit her often, and a special neighbor Betty Stockdale that helped Gloria and was always there for Siria. She is preceded in death by her husband Pete, son Horacio, and granddaughter Bianca. Surviving children are Gloria Aralcia (Gogie-Mark) of Silver City, Roberto (Bobby- Helen) of Austin, TX, David (CA), Alfredo (Freddy-Debbie), Sylvia Rueda (Silver City), and Bernadine Cordova of Portales, NM.Pall bearers will be Ramon Rueda Jr., Elijah Aralica, Mark and Ivan Aralica, CJ Quiñones, Marcelino Garcia, Manuel Merino, and Santiago Camarena. Honorary Pall Bearers are Carlos and Oscar Merino; RJ, Carlos, Sergio, Eric, and Michael Garcia, Darren Richards (Garcia), Mario Aralica, Brendan Aralica, Mark Aralica Sr, Sonny Padilla, Gilbert Carbajal, Mike Trujillo and Javier Gonzales
Siria was born in Santa Rita and raised on her parent’s “Rancho” located east of Santa Rita.Her parents were Carlos Parra Martinez and Gregoria Rodriguez Quinones. Carlos was born near Swartz, NM near the south Mimbres valley, to Nicolas Martinez andSilveria Parra. Gregoria was born in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, to Antonio Quinones and Guadalupe Rodriguez. Siria was the last of her Martinez siblings- were two sisters Altagracia and Manuela, and a brother Carlos (Chale). After her first husband Carlos passed away Gregoria married Jesus Merino and they had four sons- Severiano (Chano) and Frank who preceded Siria in death and Alfred (Nancy), of San Diego, CA , and Reynaldo (Rey-Margaret) of McAllen, Tx. Siria grew up in the company of her beloved Martinez and Merino siblings and they were always a big part of her life.She was the type that made friends for life, she was fiercely loyal and a force to be dealt with if she thought anyone was unfair to her or her friends or family.
Siria went to school in Santa Rita, sometimes riding her horse and always managed to get there in spite of it being over 5 miles away from el rancho. She graduated from the 8th grade from Santa Rita Hill school with her husband Pedro (Pete) Garcia whom she married in 1940 under somewhat unusual circumstances. As the story goes she was late for her curfew after a first (or second) date and was locked out by her parents. Those were the rules back then so she stayed with her future Garcia-Polanco in-laws after they explained that since Pete did not take her back on time, he was responsible for her now!She was looking forward to celebrating 72 years of marriage with “Pite” as she called him, when he passed away in 2011.He was truly the love of her life.
Siria’s seven children experienced her unconditional love but knew to expect discipline if they didn’t follow her rules. She was very forgiving and only strived to teach her children to learn life’s lessons. Siria lived to see and love 23 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.She recalled she and Pete were god parents to 32 children, and loved it when one of them would visit.She was fond of her many nieces and nephews.Siria was an excellent cook and had a knack for making cakes, always learning new flowers and designs and types of cakes but to her it was very important that they taste good. She was especially proud of the many wedding cakes she made and was happy to later see those couples making the most of their marriages. Needless to say,this “hobby” provided some income for her household and she became known as “the lady that makes cakes” to many people in grant county. She was always interested in learning and was very active in the local Home Extension workshops in Santa Rita in the early 60’s. She was a good example to her children on the value of a good education and encouraged them to follow in the footsteps of her brothers that had achieved a higher education.
After she learned cake decorating she learned how to upholster furniture. Soon after,she taught people how to do upholstery and cake decorating at the Santa Rita Sully School in the evenings and week-ends. In the mid 70’s she was asked by a good friend Ramon Carrillo if she would teach these skills at WNMU. She of course accepted and had many students that became her friends. She thoroughly enjoyed this time of her life. She taught her own children by example always sharing her love to all of them, her home was a refuge where they could resolve their issues and enjoy each other’s company and express themselves freely.
Siria enjoyed life and celebrated it often on birthdays, anniversaries, reunions with her siblings her children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and friends. She was proud of her Mexican heritage and her Native American blood. She was the driving force that led to picnics, outings, and she looked forward to her annual birthday bash. She was not active in any one parish but she had a great respect for her Catholic faith and always said a prayer each morning and at night.Siria frequently made sure her children were ok and reached out to them often to make sure her grandchildren and great grandchildren were ok too.
When Siria went on hospice care weeks before her passing, she was her usual realist self. She said she knew she was “not going to get out of this bed”. But she retained her good humor and recognized everyone that visited her. Even towards last days of her life she would call whomever was there and talk to them, hold their hand and kiss them“how are you doing? Everything ok?”. Such was her love of life and her family.
