Vera Deane (Records) Maestas

On March 7, 2023, Vera Deane Maestas passed away from natural causes. She was 95 years old.

Vera was born on Friday, November 25th, 1927, in Louisville, KY. While she was a young girl, her family moved across the Ohio River to Jeffersonville, IN where she stayed until she graduated from Jeffersonville High School in 1945. She went on to study nursing at the Sisters of Charity, St. Joseph's Infirmary in Louisville. After graduating, she moved to the Clearwater, Florida area to begin a career with the V.A. Hospital at Bay Pines. While in Florida, she and her best friend, Marilyn Clark became quite good at water skiing, so good, in fact that they became part of Norman's School of Water Skiing's demonstration team called the Aqua Maids. After 10 years in Florida, Vera and Marilyn became restless and decided to move across the country to a different V.A. hospital. They chose the one in Albuquerque because it was near a large freshwater lake, Elephant Butte. What they ended up finding, however, were husbands and eventually, children.

On Saturday, January 23, 1960, Vera Deane Records married Jose Alejandro Maestas, and they went on to have two children, Stephen and Margaret.

In 1964, Jose got a new job working at White Sands Missile Range, so the family packed up and moved to Las Cruces, NM. Vera quit nursing in 1962 to start raising a family, but in 1970, she returned to nursing at the Memorial General Hospital and continued to work in that career until she retired in about 1994.

While in Las Cruces, she became an avid bowler and seamstress. She also liked to travel, visiting Europe, Canada, and the Caribbean Islands with her friend, Marilyn.

The reason the retirement date is not clear is because she kept getting called back to work until she and Jose (Alex) finally decided to move back to Albuquerque in 1997.They lived in Albuquerque for the next 22 years until they were incapable of maintaining their home, at which time they decided to move into an independent living center in Rio Rancho.

Vera was preceded in death by her younger sister, Dorothy Helen in 1941; her father, John in 1984; and her mother, Willie Mae in 1995. She is survived by her husband, Jose (Alex); her daughter, Margaret;  and her son, Stephen; and granddaughter, Abrianna.

A Celebration of Life will be held Friday, March 24, 2023, at 1:00 p.m., FRENCH - Westside.