|
Crecencia "Cris" Olives, matriarch of the Olives family, died on December 23, 2009 at the age of 85. Devout in her Catholic faith, a mother of nine children, grandmother and great grandmother, she was the cornerstone of a sixty three member family. Born Maria Crecencia Chavez on June 12, 1924 in Los Tanos, New Mexico, Crecencia was one of seven children of Antonio Angel and Maria Guadalupe Martinez Chavez. She lived her childhood in Santa Rosa, New Mexico and graduated from Santa Rosa High School in 1942. After graduation, she moved to Santa Fe where she worked for the State of New Mexico. With WWII at its height, Crecencia enlisted in the Navy and joined the WAVES corps, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. She trained in secretarial skills at Hunter College in New York City and was stationed at the Bureau of Ships in Washington DC where she assisted in reassigning shipmen returning from overseas. In the fall of 1945, traveling on a GI train from Chicago to Washington DC, Crecencia was seated next to a strapping young blond haired, blue eyed serviceman, PFC Robert Lee Olives, a native of Oakland, California. Stationed in Virginia, Robert would travel to DC to court Crecencia. That spring, he proposed on a hillside at Arlington overlooking the Potomac River. The war over and her fiance on post in Alaska, Crecencia was discharged from the Navy with the rank Yeoman Second Class and returned to New Mexico, enrolling in the University of New Mexico. One year later, on May 6, 1947 Crecencia married Robert and started what would become her exceptional family. Crecencia and her husband started their life together in Oakland. Robert worked as a repairman for the telephone company and Crecencia worked at the Alameda Air Base. During this time, Crecencia gave birth to their first child, a son named Michael. Later, the family would move to Tacoma, Washington and grow to five children, as Crecencia gave birth to Margaret, Maria, Marcia and Mark. Longing to be near her parents, Robert and Crecencia returned to Santa Rosa in 1956. Crecencia continued to grow her family while working full time for the New Mexico Welfare Department as a case worker. She would bring four more children into the family with the births of Maida, Melba, Merrick and Monica. She continued her professional career, being elected and serving two terms as County Clerk of Guadalupe County. Her elder children began families of their own, leaving to pursue college and careers. In 1972, the family would settle in Albuquerque, where Crecencia worked for the Disability Determination Unit for Social Security, until her retirement in 1989. Upon retirement, Crecencia embarked on a 20 year volunteer career at St Joseph's (now Lovelace) Hospital, where she assisted patients and their families, and was often called upon for Spanish/English translation. Crecencia served as a Board Member and Vice President of Membership of the Lovelace Auxiliary. She was recently awarded her 5,000 hour pin signifying her long and generous contribution to the hospital. Known as "Nana" by her 21 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren, she was "Mom" or "Nana" to hundreds of extended family and friends. She will forever be remembered for the comfort and kindness she imparted in each person she touched. Crecencia is preceded in death by her son Dr. Michael Lee Olives. She is survived by her loving husband of 62 years, Robert Olives, her daughter-in-law, Patricia Olives, her devoted children Margaret Gallegos and husband Manuel, Maria Castellano and husband Mike, Maida Thomsen and husband Tom, and Melba Junick and her husband Dennis, all of Albuquerque, Marcia Martinez-Helfman and her partner Sarah of Philadelphia, Mark Olives and Partner Chip Rae of East Hampton, NY, Merrick Olives and wife Lane of Atlanta, GA and Monica Richards and husband Trace of Fountain Hills, AZ, as well as her adoring grandchildren and great grandchildren. A Rosary service will be held on Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at French Lomas Chapel, 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE, Albuquerque. A funeral mass will be celebrated at on Monday, December 28, 2009, 10:00 a.m. at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church, 2532 Vermont NE, Albuquerque. A private burial will follow at Santa Fe National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations will be accepted in Crecencia's memory by The Lovelace Auxiliary, 601 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd., NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102. Please visit our online guestbook for Crecencia at www.RememberTheirStory.com French 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE (505) 275-3500
|
