Mari-Luci (Antuna) Jaramillo, Ph.D.

Mari-Luci Jaramillo, Ph.D. passed away with grace on November 20, 2019. Mari-Luci – as she was affectionately known to her friends - will be remembered by her notable accomplishments as the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras and civil rights advocate.

Mari-Luci was born in Las Vegas, NM on June 19, 1928 to Maurilio Antuna Sr., a Mexican-born shoemaker and musician, and Elvira Encarnación Ruiz Antuna, a Spanish American with exceptional talent as a homemaker. Despite a humble upbringing, Mari-Luci was encouraged by her parents to escape their poverty by acquiring a good education. Little could she have imagined how her upbringing and schooling would open economic, educational and social opportunities for others.

Upon graduating from New Mexico Highlands University with a bachelor’s degree in education and minor in Spanish, Mari-Luci applied a novel approach, now called bilingual education, to improve the learning of her limited-English speaking students in the San Miguel County and West Las Vegas public schools. Word spread of her innovative methods and she soon found herself a teacher of teachers at NMHU, where she earned her master’s degree. Moving to Albuquerque, she continued teaching and later obtained a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a minor in Latin American Studies. Mari-Luci’s accomplishments soon earned her a full-time faculty position at UNM’s School of Education. It was at UNM that her reputation grew as a civil rights activist for social equity and leader in bilingual education.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Mari-Luci as the first female Hispanic ambassador of the United States. Serving as Ambassador to the Republic of Honduras, she launched procedures for democratic development and helped ease out the military dictatorship. After her successful term as la embajadora, Mari-Luci resumed her mission of building democracy in other military run countries as the Pentagon’s U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.

Mari-Luci returned to New Mexico and UNM in 1981, where she held the positions of Special Assistant to the President, Associate Dean for the College of Education, and Vice President for Student Affairs. In 1987, she moved to California and worked as Assistant Vice President for Field Services with nationally recognized Educational Testing Service. Mari-Luci was again called to service and worked with the Clinton administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Latin America in 1992. Throughout her career, she never forgot her community and served on numerous advocacy groups across the country, including the Board of Regents at NMHU and the National Hispanic Cultural Foundation in NM.

Mari-Luci was acknowledged for her efforts with numerous awards throughout her life. Her most cherished were the Distinguished Citizen award from the U.S. Pentagon, the Order of Francisco Morazan Medal and Dual Citizenship Award for extraordinary achievement in Honduras, the Anne Roe Award from the Harvard School of Education, and the Elizabeth Payne Cubberly Scholar Award from Stanford University.

Mari-Luci will be lovingly remembered by her husband, James Elliott; her children, Ross Ulibarrí and wife Kristin, Rick Ulibarrí and wife Dr. Rose Hessmiller, and Carla Ulibarrí and husband Mike Youngman; grandchildren, Kevin Potter and wife Gina, Geoff Smith and wife Amber, Dr. Nicola Ulibarrí and husband Dr. Ryan McCarty, and Sage Voorhees; great-grandchildren, Landon and Tina Marie Smith, Diego McCarty; and brother, Maurilio Antuna Jr. She will be affectionately remembered by her husband’s children, Jim and Kim Elliott, John Elliott and Anne Peterson, and his grand and great-grandchildren. Mari-Luci is also fondly remembered by her many cousins, friends, colleagues and former students.

A Rosary will be recited Tuesday, December 3, 2019, 10:00 a.m., followed by a Mass at 11:15 a.m., both at John XXIII Catholic Community, 4831 Tramway Ridge Dr. NE. A reception after Mass will be held in the Church Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to NMHU Foundation (PO Box 9000, Las Vegas, NM 87701) or the U.S. Ambassador Mari-Luci Jaramillo Endowed Scholarship at UNM (UNM Foundation, 2 Woodward Ct. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102).