Mary Valdez

Mary Valdez Martinez

June 11, 1929 ~ November 16, 2015

On November 16, 2015 with broken hearts we said goodbye for now to our beloved mother Mary Valdez Martinez.  She was born on June 11, 1929 in Park View, NM to Clorinda Maldonado and Marcelino Valdez.  She and her family moved to Monte Vista, CO where she met and married our father Larry B. Martinez. Together they had ten children.  They moved our family to Ogden, UT in the early 50’s.  He passed away on December 3, 1964.  As a young widow left to raise seven children alone, she worked very hard and had a lot of faith.  She never went a day without praying the rosary.  She did an amazing job as a mother, providing us with everything we needed and a lot of what we wanted.

In 1983 she visited her daughter in Germany.  While in Europe she toured France, Spain, and Holland.  She worked a Bourns, Inc. and retired in 1991.

She never missed an opportunity to go listen to her sons Tommy and Dicky Martinez “The Little Big Band” play their music.  She was their biggest fan.  We will always cherish our memories of weekends at Grama Mary’s house.  With Mexican music playing, she would cook pots of beans, chile verde and piles of tortillas for everyone.  Nobody ever left her house hungry.  She always had a houseful of grandkids spending the weekends.  A lot of them lived with her at various times.  For the past seven years she resided in Arizona.  She loved watching game shows and was always the first to solve the puzzles. She had a great sense of humor til the very end. She loved to play bingo, watch “Family Feud” and most of all spend time with her Arizona “Hitos”.

Surviving are her children, Joe (JoAnn) Martinez, Helen (Arthur) Lopez, Susie Deering, and Lorie (Ronnie) Chavez; daughters-in-law, Mary and Gloria Martinez; 28 grandchildren, 67 great-grandchildren, 23 great-great-grandchildren; brother, Kelly Valdez; sister, Ida Jeppeson; and a very special brother and sister-in-law, Porfidio and Helen Martinez.  Preceded in death by her husband, three infant children, sons, Mike B, Tommy, and Dicky Martinez, brothers, Pete, Louis, and Nelson Valdez and Joe Maes; and a sister, Lita Montes.

Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 514 24th St., Ogden.  A luncheon will follow at the Ogden Eagles, 975 Wall Ave.  Interment, Lindquist’s Washington Heights Memorial Park, 4500 Washington Blvd.