Agapita Evangelina (Gallegos) Martinez

Agapita Evangelina Gallegos Martinez, age 85, died on Thursday, October 1, 2020, from COVID-19.  Pita was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend.  She liked to laugh, sing, and dance, and she had a remarkable talent for making others feel special and loved.  She was a wonderful homemaker and a great cook.  Her family still tries to replicate her spaghetti sauce.  She loved her dear Lord Jesus with immense faith and devotion.

Pita was a toddler when her mother died, and she was frequently shuffled to different family members' homes in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.  Due to congenital cataracts, she went to high school at the School for the Visually Impaired in Alamogordo, NM.  She had wonderful memories of her time there, as she excelled in academics, music, and popularity, and grew in confidence and independence.  She moved to New Jersey to work for a brief period, and then returned to the rural community of her youth, where she fell in love with Juan Lino Martinez, Jr., who would become her husband of 60 years. Together they raised three sons, and Pita was dedicated to providing the kind of loving, stable and protected home she did not have as a child. When her children got older, she worked at the Woolco department store, where she earned recognition for her attentive and friendly service.  After Woolco closed, she provided daycare for her granddaughters and for other children with exceptional love and tenderness.  After a debilitating stroke in 2000, she carried on with spunk, strength, and spirit.

Pita is survived by her sons, LeeRoy Martinez and wife, Sheri, Leonard Martinez, and Craig Martinez and wife, Mary; her grandchildren, Sara Brasher and husband, John, Lydia Bradshaw and husband, Clay, Jonah Martinez, and Catalina Martinez; two great-grandsons, Jack and Sebastian Brasher; sisters, Lily Solomon, Florence Nix, and Ida Belarde, and many friends and extended family.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Juan Lino Martinez, Jr., parents, Lisardo and Teresita (Vallejos) Gallegos; brothers, Johnny Gallegos, Filiberto Gallegos, and Medardo Gallegos; and sister, Stella Montoya.

Private services are planned, and interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to any charity providing services to the homeless.