Melissa Renee Martinez

Melissa Renee Martinez, "Missy" - Born Monday, August 26, 1991, was called to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Friday, February 4, 2022. Missy was 30 years young.

Over her short time on this earth, Missy earned the friendship and respect of anyone who became acquainted with her. In her own calm demeanor, she listened before speaking and responded, when necessary, in her typical plain and simple manner. No matter who she was talking to, they knew she was putting them first. Missy grew up the youngest of five siblings, the other four were at least 10 years older than her. She was always under the watchful eye of not only her parents but her older brothers and sisters. She was very blessed to have never lacked the loving attention of her family and she never took it for granted. Most of all, Missy was the apple of her dad's eye and another gift from God to her mother.

Missy attended the Montessori on the Rio Grande from age 3 through 11 followed by LBJ Middle School, then on to Cibola HS. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from NM Highland University. Missy was currently teaching 2nd Grade at McCollum Elementary School where she was truly passionate and embraced her students, and giving everything she had to make sure they learned while making school a fun place to be. She said there was not another school she would want to ever teach at.

Missy prided herself on being loyal to people even when that loyalty was not reciprocated. In those instances, she would become deeply saddened. She wanted to be married and have kids but she was not going to settle. He had to be the right man. At the same time, she was strong-willed and if she believed in something she was going to stand by her belief.

Her number one objective was to live a strong Christian life and encourage people to do the same. Born, baptized and raised in the Catholic faith for the first roughly two-thirds of her life, Missy choose to continue her service to the Lord through Calvary Church where she was once again baptized. Steadfast in her belief, Missy never wavered in her ultimate pursuit of someday entering the kingdom of Heaven. She was a true steward of her faith while respecting both sources of her Christian education.

Missy was an outstanding athlete in her chosen sport of softball. She was six days old when she watched her first softball game. Her entire immediate family had played baseball/softball so it was inevitable that she would follow in their footsteps. She had her first pitching lesson at age nine. Initially we took a left-handed glove and a right-handed glove because she could throw the ball equally as well with both hands. At the end of practice her coach suggested that she throw right-handed because she was more accurate but also stated that she threw harder left-handed. On the way home Missy stated very empathically that she was going to be a switch-pitcher. She quickly changed her mind when her dad told her we'd have to practice twice as long each day. So, it was decided to go left-handed because her left arm was stronger.

In 2002, at age 11 Missy pitched the entire season without allowing a hit! Needless to say, they went undefeated in regular season and won the District Championship. In 2003, her Petroglyph LL team won State and moved on to Waco, Texas for regionals. Missy hurt her arm and was unable to pitch in the Championship game. We lost in the Championship game, therein falling one win short of making it to the Little League World Series in Portland, Oregon.

Later in 2003 we started a new club team called the Albuquerque Starz. Missy and her very talented teammates proceeded to win five USSA State Championships, four ASA State Championships and four World Series National Championships, which even today is unprecedented by any girls' softball team in New Mexico. Over eight years the Starz finished with an 88% winning percentage and were ranked #1 in the country on several occasions. The Starz had put New Mexico on the map.

At Cibola, Missy and her teammates pulled off a 3-peat winning State in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Missy received numerous awards in high school including Cibola's 2009 Female Athlete of the year, First team All-State as a sophomore, junior and senior, 2008 & 2009 ABQ Journal Player of the Year, 2009 ABQ/NM Sports Hall of Fame Recognition Award, 2008 and 2009 Gatorade Player of the year. When Missy graduated from high school she held 15 State of NM pitching records. Thirteen years later she continues to hold 9 State records.

Missy went on to play college ball at NM Highlands despite foregoing her dream of playing for the UNM Lobos or another D-1 school. While we were certain she would be a valuable pitching asset to any D-1 school, it was finally deduced that because she was only 5'3", had shorter arm, was from New Mexico, etc., interest in her was light with the exception of Ivy League and Patriot League schools who did not offer athletic scholarships. The first week of the season of her freshman year at Highlands, Missy was selected National Player of the week. In her first game she pitched a no-hitter and hit a home run on her first college at bat. That weekend in a Las Vegas, Nevada tourney, Missy hit 3, back-to-back-to-back home runs against Grand Canyon State. She played for Highlands for two more years and threw more strikeouts combined than any other pitcher in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference during that period. After leaving Highland's she was now sought after by the new UNM Lobo coach, but Missy decided to stop playing and work instead on finishing up her degree.

Despite all her accomplishments the most admirable quality that Missy possessed was how absolutely humble she was. She handled everything she did with humility, compassion and class. She would push compliments off to the fact that her teammates were as responsible for her successes. This was the true hallmark of her life. She would quietly listen to what someone had to say and then respond in a manner that made them feel good or better. Some mistook her demeanor as being too nice. But that was just a part of her personality and it served her and others well. She believed a person could never be too nice.

Missy loved to read novels and collect children's books. She was a student of the Harry Potter series of books and could speak forever on the topic. She would read a book in a matter of days and always kept track of how many she read, always wanting to break her own record over the course of a year. She was also a wordsmith of the English language obsessed with grammatical correctness. A phenomenal writer, she had been working on her first children's book.

While Missy had followed her lifelong desire to become a teacher, she had set future entrepreneurial goals of 1) building the client base for her interior design business (see havenhoneyhome.com) and 2) becoming a professional photographer. In talking to her friends and family, these were the things that excited Missy the most. One friend said that Missy felt "she was living her best life right now". Another said, "it was fun to see the sparkle in her eye when she talked about her interior design business".

One of Missy's best friends said, "we cherished each other's relationship. Missy could light up any mood with her positivity. She was always making friends laugh by cracking jokes and making funny faces to lift up our spirits".

Finally, Missy loved her family immensely. All 6 of us looked at her as the centerpiece of the family because each of us was present at the moment of her birth. Missy had the uncanny ability to develop a special personal bond with each of her parents (The Three Musketeers she called us) as well as individually with each of her 4 siblings. Forever will exist the fondest of memories: Dad dancing with the infant Missy until she fell asleep and standing by her side later in life during tough times. Mom holding her daughter, hugging her tightly with love seemingly permeating through their bodies. Her brothers, sisters, nephews, and niece frequently sat around after dinner with Missy talking, laughing, wrestling, and playing, reminiscent of times long past when they were all children. These times will be tremendously missed but will always remain in our memory. And from this day forward, each time we sit down to have a meal, one seat will remain empty. And we will raise our glasses and say, "To Missy"!!

So let us now prepare for the celebration of Missy's life and share with family and friends her ultimate vision of eternal happiness, as described in her own words:
Written March 4, 2020, by Missy:
LIVE beautifully
Jesus, my Love,
You are my heavenly Bridegroom and as I wait patiently for our heavenly wedding day, I will prepare and be ready for your arrival. As I finally see you face to face, your brilliant and beautiful face, I will laugh and weep to be in your glorious presence. You have dressed me in fine linen, bright and clean. I will embrace you and be welcomed into the arms of the home I've always yearned for. I will be blessed to be in the presence of the lamb at the wedding supper of the Lamb. What a beautiful day it will be!
Amen.

Missy is survived by her parents, Gary Martinez and Yolanda Martinez; siblings, Luke Martinez (Jackie), Denise Vigil (Jerry), Yvonne Baros (Ben), and Adrian Martinez (Stacy); nephews, JJ, Sean, Aidan, Austin, and Rayes; and niece, Rayna and her dog, Lobo. Along with numerous uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends.

Pallbearers will be JJ Vigil, Rayes Baros, Sean Vigil, Aidan Martinez, Austin Martinez and Nick Trujillo. Honorary pallbearers will be Rayna Baros, Jimmy Martinez, Mario Trujillo, Coach Gene Victor, Umpire Mike Sanchez and all players, coaches and parents of the Albuquerque Starz club softball team.

Services will be held on Monday, February 14, 2022, at St Joseph on the Rio Grande, 5901 St Josephs Dr NW, with a Viewing to begin at 12:45 p.m., Rosary at 1:15 p.m., and a Mass at 2:00 p.m. Celebration of Life will be held on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, 11:00 a.m., at Calvary Church, 4001 Osuna Rd NE, with a reception to follow. A Private Burial attended by her immediate family will take place at a later date.

**N95 masks will be provided by the family and will be required to be worn prior to entry into both Churches.