I am a first-generation New Mexican. In 1908, when my father was five years old, his family migrated from Texas to a homestead near Tatum, NM. My mother was born in Missouri, and her family migrated to Texas, where she picked cotton before walking behind the wagon to their new homestead in Fence Lake, NM. Once settled in Fence Lake, she met my father, who had also established a homestead there. After the birth of their third son, born at home and with cerebral palsy, they moved to a family-run dairy farm in the far south valley, off Isleta Blvd, a few miles north of the Isleta Pueblo.

Immediately after graduating from Rio Grande High School, I went to Arizona to visit my brother. There I enrolled in a cosmetology school and qualified for a license.

When the hiring freeze was lifted at the Clerk’s office for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division at Columbus, I was fortunate to be hired as a Deputy Clerk. While working for the USDC for 31 years, I also had continuous part-time retail jobs for 33 years. I worked for JoAnn Fabrics for 18 years, then for Marshall Field’s, Kaufmann’s, and Macy’s.

After retiring I returned to Albuquerque in November 2015 to be near my brother, who needs care due to his CP. My original plan to own a business making children’s clothes was pushed aside because of the care my brother needed.

Now, I spend my time caring for my brother and supporting the youth who are actively working to make the Democratic Party a productive and positive organization to belong to. I am happy to serve as the Treasurer and to support Jacob Trujillo as the Chair, as well as the other officers and members of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County.