NELLIE MIRANDA TRUJILLO, passed away peacefully into the embrace of her Savior and Lord Jesus Christ on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at the age of 96 in the company of her beloved family. Nellie, a longtime resident of Espanola was born on June 1, 1914 to Emilio Herrera Miranda and Francisca Vigil Madrid Miranda in the village of Lincoln in the Rio Bonito Valley. The eldest of a family of twelve, Nellie was the great-granddaughter of the founders of Lincoln (Rio Bonito), Felipe Miranda and Maria Dolores Chavez, who came from the community of San Pedro on the Rio Grande, near Socorro, traveling across the desert and mal pais at Carrizozo with their livestock in search of good grazing. As was the custom of the day, Nellie was partly raised by her pioneering grandmother, Lorencita Torrez Herrera Miranda, who was born in Manzano in 1861 and was a contemporary and good friend of Billy the Kid, "El Bilito" until the end of his short life. Nellie was a pioneer in the early days of public education in New Mexico beginning with her high school diploma at the Spanish American Normal School in El Rito. She was trained at the experimental San Jose School at UNM in the 1930s and continued her coursework at UCLA during WWII in Los Angeles. She completed her college degree at Highlands University in 1953. She began her teaching career in 1931 in Lincoln County, riding horseback into the countryside to teach at the remote communities of Los Alamos, Jacks Peak and Arabela where she lived in the homes of her students. Nellie completed her thirty five year career teaching first grade and kindergarten to numerous students at Chimayo, El Rito and Hernandez, first arriving in Chimayo in 1933 at El Rincon de Los Trujillo. Nellie was preceded in death by her husband, Cipriano D. Trujillo; sisters, Ofelia Salas and Mabel Ramsey; and brother, Enrique Miranda; brothers-in-law, James Faglier, Palemon Arguello, Ismael Salas and Ernest Ramsey. Mrs. Trujillo is survived by her daughter, Marcia Medina of Fairview; son, Ted Trujillo and wife Diana of Chimayo; grandchildren, Steven Medina of Espanola, Eugenio Medina of San Francisco, Pablo Medina of Albuquerque, Adan Trujillo, Omar Trujillo and Pilar Trujillo; daughter-in-law, Marisela C. Trujillo of Chimayo; brothers, Max Miranda and wife Ruth of Los Angeles, Gilbert Miranda and wife Jonelle of Albuquerque, Gus Miranda of Albuquerque, Lucila Arguello of Las Vegas, Geralda Chacon and husband Charlie of Espanola, Beatrice Melendrez and husband Sam of Deming, Dolores Faglier of Atlanta, Georgia and Frances Gallegos and husband Joe of Lincoln and many beloved nephews and nieces on both sides of the family, many of whom often visited her. In 1977 Nellie and her siblings organized the first Miranda Family Reunion to pull together the large extended family which by then had extended throughout the United States and abroad. The Miranda family had just completed their 12th reunion on June 25-27 at Sipapu with 145 participants. Many of these participants were able to visit with Nellie at her home before her passing. Nellie was a lifelong member of the Santa Cruz Parish and a member of the Catholic Daughters of America, the New Mexico Educators Retirement Association and the Espaola Hospital Auxiliary. Public visitation will begin on Friday, July 2, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. in the Sangre de Cristo Chapel of DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory with a rosary to be recited at 6:00 pm. Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated on Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at La Iglesia de Santa Cruz de la Canada. Burial to follow at the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Santa Cruz. The Trujillo family has entrusted their loved one to DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory. 505-747-7477 or www.devargasfuneral.com
Published on: Fri July 02, 2010