Alice Louise (Bracken) Cummins

Alyce L. Cummins (Bracken) of Albuquerque, NM, passed away Sunday, October 9, 2022, at the age of 92.

She was born in Rogersville, Missouri, to Edmund and Euyla Bracken. She was preceded in death by her husband, Calvin L. of 64 years. Alyce is survived by her sons, Patrick and wife, Sherry and Timothy and wife, Ann; her grandchildren, Allison Kirby (Kevin), Brian Cummins, and Jocelyn Berry (Mike); nieces, Nancy Bracken, Courtnay Bracken, and Stephanie Bracken; and her nephew, Rob Bracken.

Alyce was raised on a farm, tending to cattle, helping her mom with the garden, and hunting and fishing with her dad. She excelled in education by graduating high school at the age of 17 and college at the age of 20. She graduated college in 1950, with a BS in English and Education. While at Southwest Missouri State University she met her husband, Cal. While dating, Alyce achieved her classroom teaching certification in nearby Niangua, Missouri. Cal and Alyce married in August of 1952. After working for a couple years in the Springfield area, they moved to Denver, Colorado, where Cal was hired by Moore Business Forms as a Sales Representative. Before Alyce could find a job, Cal's position was transferred to Santa Fe, NM., in 1956. While in Santa Fe, Alyce worked as a receptionist and as a clothing model for one of Santa Fe's high end clothing stores. Additionally, she was very active in the Santa Fe community.
Alyce and Cal, along with their two very young sons, moved to Albuquerque, in 1965. Alyce was hired on with the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), teaching English to high school students at newly opened West Mesa High School. While teaching at West Mesa, Alyce started and completed her master's in special education, receiving her master's degree from the University of New Mexico in 1969. In 1970, she swapped positions within APS and became a teacher with the Homebound Department. When the director of Homebound Department announced their retirement in 1975, Alyce applied for and got the position. She grew the department to 25 teachers and widened the scope of the department to include children in long term hospital care, children in drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, and other situations. She rebranded the department the Home/Hospital Services (HHS) of APS. After 30 years with HHS, Alyce retired from APS but did not quit. She went to work with one of the drug and alcohol rehabilitation charter schools for 5 years as an agency coordinator between the patient/student and the student's home schoolteachers and staff.

Alyce was a long-standing member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Education Sorority, Alpha Iota Chapter.

Next on Alyce's retirement agenda was amateur golfing, getting involved with the musical theater, The Rio Grande Jazz Club as a docent, secretary/treasurer for the New Mexico Symphony Guild/Jackee McGehee Young Artist's Competition, and was an active member of the Marathon Bridge Club. Alyce loved to read and traveled the United States and the world with her husband Cal.

A Memorial Service will be held Friday, November 4, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. at FRENCH - Lomas.

Interment will follow the Memorial Service at 1:30 p.m., at Santa Fe National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Jackie McGehee Young Artists' Competition by visiting https://www.musicguildofnewmexico.org or mailing your donation to Music Guild of New Mexico, P.O. Box 3458, Albuquerque, NM 87190-3458.