ALBERT E. Born March 26, 1926 - September 11, 2011, born in Roy, NM, the youngest of four children and orphaned at the age of two. He was educated at St. George's School and Roy High School and enlisted in the US Army on June 15, 1943 having found a way to pass the vision test in spite of being legally blind in one eye. He served as a medical corpsman in the Pacific theatre before and during the liberation of the Phillipine Islands. Albert Rivera and Mary Teresa Martinez were married on February 26, 1946 and Albert was honorably discharged from the army on January 20, 1947 and then raised seven children first in Roy and then in Raton, NM. Mary was taken from this world on July 23, 1976 and several years after her death, Albert left Raton to pursue an undergraduate degree first at the College of Santa Fe and then at NM State University in Las Cruces. In 1980 Albert came to Albuquerque to be the resident manager of the Park Plaza Condominiums near Old Town. He retired in 1994 and spent the next few years between Montana and Albuquerque where he remained until his death. Albert was an active member of Sacred Heart Parish lending his time and talents to the community as a lay minister and a member of the parish council. In addition to his wife Mary, Albert was pre-deceased by his sister, Lilia Trujillo; brothers, Louis and Michael; sisters-in-law, Rachel Lujan, Della Velasquez, Clorinda and Fay Rivera; brothers-in-law, Sam and Joe Martinez and John Velasquez. He is survived by his children, Alberta, Michael and wife Patricia, Francis and wife Loretta, Patrick and wife Maria, Louis, Mary Elizabeth and husband, Greg LeBlanc and Albert P. and wife Linda; 16 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews; in-law, Evelyn and husband Alfred De Herrera, Viola Griego, Leo and wife, Cruz Martinez and Alfonso Lujan. A rosary will be recited at 9:00 a.m. on September 22, 2011 and a Memorial Mass at 10:00 a.m. on September 22, 2011. Both services will be held at Sacred Heart Church. Interment and a private memorial will be held on October 28, 2011 at 12:45 p.m. in Santa Fe. Memorial contributions may be made to Presbyterian Hospice, Sacred Heart Parish or the charity of choice.
|
