Mary T. Gallegos

In 1931, the year Mary was born to Edumenio and Julianita Trujillo, the United States was amid The Great Depression. Coincidentally, the classic horror film "Dracula" was released, metaphorically substantiating the daunting nature of the times that would persist for several more years. It was no doubt a challenging time for people looking for work and parents raising their families.

Mary said she was one of fourteen children. Six of her siblings died during birth or soon thereafter. Of the remaining siblings who lived into adulthood but preceded her in death, Mary often talked about her older brothers, Al, Alex, Larry, and Julian, and older sister, Theresa, saying that they were good to her during her formative years; and her younger sister, Cordy, whom she mentored growing up.

Mary was especially close to her mother throughout her growing up years and into adulthood, until her mother’s passing after a long life.

Throughout Mary’s lifetime, she was also especially close to her youngest brother, Leroy, who resides in California with his wonderful wife, Maricela. At the age of ninety-one, Leroy is Mary’s only surviving sibling. 

As a child Mary enjoyed the love and security of her family. This helped her embrace whatever life challenges came her way with an attitude of confidence and perseverance. 

"Mary had a little lamb," was a true-life experience for Mary when she was young. While living in northern New Mexico in the small village of Chama, her father provided her with a small lamb to take care of and to have as her own.

In high school, Mary played basketball and was good at it. In her high school band, she crafted music with a clarinet, receiving many affirmations from her band teacher for her skills with the instrument. Mary graduated from Montrose High School, in Montrose, Colorado, as the only Hispanic woman in her class to graduate.

Mary married Daniel Jose Gallegos, Sr. (aka Danny or Dan) in 1953. She was widowed in 2022, when Dan Sr. died of congestive heart failure at the age of 89. Together, Mary and Dan Sr., raised three boys, Daniel (Danny / Dan) Jose Jr., Donald (Don) James, and David Joseph – each four years apart. Dan Sr. won all his bets with his friends as to the day his kids would be born because each birth was a planned cesarean section, which none of his friends knew about. He was a sneaky guy in his attempts to humor his friends. Each of Mary's boys emerged from her womb looking perfectly beautiful – so it's been rumored. Haha!

During her 92-years of "living it up," Mary embraced her many roles including daughter, sister, wife, homemaker and church bookkeeper, mother, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, aunt, grandmother, friend, and "prayer warrior" (as her friends called her). Mary was especially devoted to the Virgin Mary, praying the rosary near daily for much of her adult life. As a "prayer warrior," Mary often commandeered her boys into praying the rosary with her – whether they wanted to or not.

One of her boys (her oldest boy), whose name shall remain anonymous -Haha, remembers Mary often annoyingly "hijacking" his precious TV time, to petition "Holy Mary, Mother of God..." on important matters, like seeking our blessed Mother's intercession for the needs of a relative hurt in a car accident. While this precious young angelic boy of hers may have earned some extra points with the Divine, it deprived him of many of the endings of several of his favorite TV shows. Just when he would start watching a program, BAM! It was time to pray. Ugh!

Mary lived to attend retreats, prayer meetings, religious conferences, ordinations, and church services. One highlight was getting to see and be within a few feet of Pope John Paul II on a trip to the Vatican in Rome one summer with friends from the Benedictine Monastery in Pecos, New Mexico.

Mary treasured immediate and extended family life. In addition, she liked backyard Bar-B-Qs, picnics, music, bowling, making friends, socializing, eating out, traveling, fishing, camping, reading, and learning. She treasured and was proud of her husband, her three boys, her daughters in law, her many nephews and nieces, and her grandchildren. Mary held a special fondness for her nephews and nieces, and they for her.

In addition to her three sons, Dan (and wife, Elena Gallegos), Don (and wife, Lynanne Gallegos), and David, Mary leaves behind three granddaughters, Chloe Gallegos, Rachel Gallegos (and husband, Adwaith Nair), Bailey Hensley (and husband, Preston Hensley); one grandson, Zach Gallegos (and wife, Jen Gallegos); and one great-granddaughter, Owen Margot Gallegos (daughter of Zach and Jen). Mary is also survived by her beloved granddog, a little white mutt-of-a-dog, named Holly – David’s dog, whom she not only named but championed.

Cooking was a specialty of Mary's. She was good at making delicious and diverse meals and desserts. Her family enjoyed her pies, cakes, New Mexican food, red chile, tortillas, fried potatoes, fried chicken, empanadas, posole, and beans. Her granddaughter, Rachel, was "all in" when it came to Nana’s famous brownies.

Mary loved being a CCD teacher for 1st and 2nd graders, and tutoring third graders in reading, at Our Lady of the Assumption School in the 1960s. She played her steel string acoustic guitar at prayer meetings and Catholic masses during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Throughout her life, she sponsored many people of all ages receiving baptism and confirmation in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Mary was heavily involved in leadership roles (along with her husband) during her years of participation in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Mary liked to celebrate her family's and friends' birthdays, and her favorite holidays were Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. It was her annual tradition to give her three sons chocolate Easter bunnies during the Easter season which continued into their adult years.

Mary was considered by many of her friends and family to be a sweet and kind lady who was likeable and fun to be around because of her values and sense of humor. She made it a habit to tease and use dry humor with her doctors and nurses. Many people in the caretaking field who were tasked with Mary's care considered her a favorite of theirs, often voicing to her and her sons how much they liked her. Mary even had an informal fan club of previous caretakers who stayed connected with her because of their fondness for her.

As a mother, Mary involved herself heavily in her sons’ Catholic educations, faith development, and athletic endeavors. She often transported her sons (along with their peers) to and from basketball games, football games, baseball games, and track and field events. One year, she was voted by Our Lady of the Assumption School Staff to be Volunteer of the Year. Mary was proud of her boys and their talents. She encouraged them often and insisted that they remember that God was going to help them through and take care of whatever challenges they were facing.

Mary liked to take her boys fishing, especially to the streams in the Jemez mountains, the Pecos River north of Glorieta, New Mexico, and several of the lakes in Western and Northern New Mexico. Lake fishing was Mary's favorite kind of fishing. She adopted a "Tom Sawyer Approach" to the activity, using a red and white bobber the size of a softball to cast her line in the water. Mary created tsunamis when her bobber plummeted into the lake. It was often wondered out-loud by her fishing mates - in joking fashion - whether and how many fish she may have killed by the impact of her bobber landing in the water.

Although she was never observed cleaning the fish she caught (that was delegated to her husband or boys), she had little if any trouble baiting her own hooks and managing whatever fish she caught. Removing a hook from a fish's mouth was not a problem for Mary, nor was it a dreadful task. Oh, and her pan-fried fish in the mountains or at home was the best!

The only thing as important to Mary as her family, her faith and prayer life, her extended family, her fashion sense of dressing with style, her keeping a spotless house and well-groomed yard, and her cooking, was her love of the UNM Lobo Men's Basketball Team. She was a long-standing fan who even prayed for "her" Lobos every season. She attended games, bonded with her family and friends over such games, and wholeheartedly cheered for them. Win or lose, she remained loyal. Watching the men's team play in person or on TV energized her and brought her lots of pleasure, even after she was confined to a bed due to her health.

Mary resiliently tackled various medical challenges throughout her life, which required numerous doctor’s visits, procedures, hospitalizations, surgeries, therapies, and medications. Ultimately, what she could not overcome was her chronic, intense, neurological pain associated with her diabetic condition, history of broken bones, torn tendons and muscles, and rapidly deteriorating spine.

During the last two years of her life, it is fair to say that Mary really suffered. Medical attention, rest, and prayer were only able to buffer her intense pain. While her husband was in hospice care, her neurologically based pain and physical limitations intensified. After breaking her right ankle from a fall in 2022, and experiencing a problematic recovery, Mary lost her ability to bear her own weight.

During her time in nursing home care, Mary slowly declined physically, losing her ability to maintain her balance while sitting. She also regressed in her ability to feel and move her legs, feet, and toes, as well as in her ability to reposition herself in bed or in her wheelchair. As time unfolded, she experienced less and less muscle control. Attempts at providing Mary with physical therapy were constantly interrupted by her chronic pain. Such interruptions prevented her from getting strong and resulted in her muscles becoming atrophied. But despite this, she retained her sense of hope and determination. She maintained a positive outlook about her circumstances. In the end, however, Mary's declining state proved to be too much, prompting her to yearn for her heavenly home and to be with her husband, mother and father, and other family members and friends already situated in a sanctified afterlife.

Several weeks before she died, Mary suffered from pneumonia that further devastated her strength and rendered her mostly unalert. She lost her ability to taste food. Eating and taking medication became difficult.

While Mary did not like being in a nursing home, she mostly accepted it and tried to view it as a "calling" of sorts, to pray for and counsel some of the patients and staff with whom she interacted.

When Mary took her last breath at 2:30 AM, on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, she was in the loving care of Presbyterian's Inpatient Hospice Care Unit at Anna Kaseman Hospital. For four nights and five days, while in inpatient hospice, Mary finally experienced relief from her chronic pain problem and associated agitation. Because of the successful efforts of her inpatient hospice care, Mary died peacefully and comfortably in her sleep.

The day before she left for her Homecoming in Heaven, the life forces of the universe in conjunction with God's grace, granted Mary the ultimate pleasure of being with and hearing the voices of her beloved brother, Leroy, and his wife, Maricela. These were the two people she repeatedly called out for, to comfort her in her final days, in addition to her deceased mother. Because of this visit from Leroy and Marciela, our guess is that Mary was then able to let go and die happy. So, thank you cousin, Thomas Trujillo, for bringing your parents from the west coast to see Mary one last time. You helped bring about a profound moment for her (and of course for your mother and father).

Mary "ran the race," "fought the good fight," and at all times persisted in her faith. Her family believes she was able to confidently voice, as did St. Paul in the scripture verse 2 Timothy 4:8, “All that awaits me now is the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award me on that Day — and not only me, but also all who have longed for him to appear.”

From her sons to their mom: So, now that you have moved on, mom, we ask God the Father, Jesus his Son, and the Holy Spirit, to welcome you into God’s most glorious Kingdom! We believe that you are now in a place that none of us can imagine, the glory awaiting all of us, the experience of being in the presence of God. Until we see you again in the City of God, be free and at peace. Pray for us, as you always did. Praying a rosary or two might be good. And put in good words for all of us waiting our turn to cross over from this life into the next to be with the Divine.

Now that Mary, is no longer with us, the family including Dan (with wife, Elena) and Don (with wife Lynanne), and David with his dog Holly would like to give a special shout out to all the friends and family who, during her nursing home care, visited her, phoned her, laughed with her, smiled on her, encouraged her, received her phone calls, brought her food, celebrated special moments with her, touched her, prayed with her, and brought her flowers. You helped Mary reach the end of her life feeling very loved! May your memories of her be a special blessing to you, and inspire you, all the days of your precious lives.

We journey on.

A deep heartfelt "Thank you!"