Jose Alcario Martinez

José Alcario Martínez joined his wife, Stella, in eternal rest on December 18, 2016. He passed away at the Albuquerque home of his nephew, Gilbert Ulibarrí, surrounded by his loving family members. Those members included Gilbert and his wife Shirley, and their daughters, Reyna and Francesca, who provided around-the-clock care for him during his final illness. He was known as Alcario or Alcarito to his many friends and family members. Alcario was born on July 16, 1923 in La Pintada to the home of Alcario and Faustina Martínez. Alcario’s great-grandfather, Blas Martínez, was a pioneer of La Junta and La Pintada. One of Blas’ great-grandsons is Brian Sandoval, the current governor of Nevada. Alcario’s paternal grandparents were Salomé and Savinita Martínez. Don Salomé was one of the four delegates from Guadalupe County to the Constitutional Convention of 1910. The convention wrote the constitution for New Mexico which led to statehood on January 6, 1912, New Mexico entering as the 47th state of the Union. Alcario was the 7th of nine children born to his parents, Alcario, Sr., and Faustina. The others were José León, Savinita, Rogaciana, Frances, Porfirio “Rudy,” Amelia, Napoleón, and Faustín. They also had an adopted daughter, Julianita. He attended elementary school in La Pintada and graduated from the 8th grade in 1938. One of the elementary school teachers was his sister, Savinita. He then enrolled in Santa Rosa High School and graduated in 1942. He was a member of the first Lion basketball team to play in a state tournament. The 1941-42 Lion team played in the state tournament which was held in Santa Fe. World War II was in its first year when he graduated. He joined the Army in 1943 and served as an anti-aircraft gunner in the Pacific Theatre. He participated in several battles against the Japanese and was in the Philippine Islands preparing for the invasion of Japan when the war ended. One of his fondest memories of the war was meeting his former classmate, Evy Gallegos, in New Guinea. During the WWII there were also three other brothers who saw military service, José León, Porfirio and Napoleón. All returned home safely after the war, though Porifirio was wounded in action and received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. He returned to his home in La Pintada after the war ended. He recalled, with a broad smile, hitching a ride from Santa Rosa with the mailman to his home at La Pintada. He then decided to use the GI Bill to continue his education. With several others, including Carmén Marez and Frank Serrano, they went to Albuquerque to enlist at the University of New Mexico. However, there weren’t any dorm rooms available at UNM, too many other ex-GI’s, so they had to go to Las Cruces to enroll at what was then New Mexico A & M, now New Mexico State. Because of crowded conditions in Las Cruces, Frank went to El Paso and enrolled at Texas Western, now known as UTEP. One of his college roommates at Las Cruces was Herman Baca, who was later Guadalupe County Extension Agent for NMSU. Alcario earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education at New Mexico A & M and became a life-long supporter of the Aggies. The football coach for the Aggies was his former football coach at Santa Rosa, Babe Curfman. Alcario used to recall that Coach Curfman had a difficult time pronouncing his name and used to call him “Alcacario.” That name stuck with some of his old-time classmates. He would always chuckle when he recounted being called “Alcacario.” He then returned home to La Pintada and became a school teacher. His first assignment was with the Guadalupe County schools as a teacher at the Dilia elementary school. He boarded with the Aragón family while teaching at Dilia. He was then sent to Newkirk to work at the elementary school there. He used to remember that one of his students at Newkirk was a young boy named Joe Blea. In the 1960s while working as an administrator with the Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools he hired Joe Blea as a math teacher in Santa Rosa. IN his first few years as a school teacher he also worked on his master’s degree at New Mexico Highlands University. After earning his MA degree in education he was qualified to receive a school administrator’s license. Over the years he also did course work at the University of New Mexico and Eastern New Mexico University. During his long career as a school teacher he held several important positions with the school district. After working as a teacher he became the County School Supervisor and was responsible for traveling throughout the county to work with teachers. He would often participate with students at those schools during recess in playing basketball and baseball. He was always a welcome sight for the students in rural schools. In 1958 he was elected as County School Superintendent. The following year the county schools and the Santa Rosa schools were consolidated and became the Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools. He became the school district counselor and held that position until he was promoted to high school principal, a position he held until 1969 when he became assistant school superintendent. He retired from the Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools in June 1984 after a career which spanned four decades. Alcario married the love of his life, Stella Ulibarrí, in 1956. They led a very happy life together until her death in January 2014. He would like to reminisce about the many happy experiences they shared during their marriage, vacations to Las Vegas and California. They also traveled to Las Cruces to watch the Aggies and to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. They were both Eucharistic members at the Santa Rosa de Lima Catholic Church. They would also deliver Holy Communion to the homebound. They were members of the St. Anne’s Sodality while it was still active. The Sodality helped support the St. Rose Catholic School until it finally closed its doors after the 1977-78 school year. Alcario would often be called on to lead the rosary for funerals. They also had many strong friendships in the area. They were padrinos and compadres to scores of families, servings as baptism padrinos, confirmation padrinos, and wedding padrinos. It seems that everyone was a compadre or a comadre. As Stella’s health began to deteriorate he was her constant caregiver and was always at her side. He would remind his friends how much he missed her after her passing. Stella and Alcario were very good friends with Elauterio “Laute” and Florence Lucero. The two couple would often take trips together. Laute and Alcario were both also ranchers. Laute had a ranch at San Ignacio and Alcario had the La Pintada Martínez family ranch. The two men enjoyed hunting trips. They were also very good Santa Rosa Lion fans and attended football games together. Both men also were city councilmen and both served as mayors of Santa Rosa. Both men were active participants of the Campos Senior Center and would attend the center daily for lunch. When Laute became unable to drive, Alcario would pick him up for Sunday mass, which they actually attended on Saturday evenings. They would share a pew in the front of the church. They were both members of the Knights of Columbus. In the early 1960s they both became Cursillistas with Father Raymond Aragón. They returned from their Cursillo in Pecos on a Saturday night during a raging snow storm. They arrived in Santa Rosa on time for the 6:00 a.m. mass which Father Aragón was scheduled to give. They all attended the mass together, thankful that they had returned home safely. Both men were also World War II veterans, Laute fighting in the European Theatre. They can probably best be described as being as close as brothers without actually being relatives. Alcario was very active in all the organizations in which he served. He proudly recalled that as a member of the local Lions Club, he and fellow Lion Gene Drury were very active in initiating the Lions Club Eye Bank in the state of New Mexico. The community-based New Mexico Lions Eye Bank became pioneer and leader in providing eye banking services to patients, surgeons and hospitals in our state. And it all started in Santa Rosa! He and fellow Santa Rosa, Pauline Johnson, were instrumental in converting the Santa Rosa nursing home into what is now known as the Vecinos Sanos Assisted Living Home located near Blue Hole. Alcario was always very active in La Pintada. He always fondly referred to his home as “La” Pintada, with an emphasis on “La.” He was a living history of the entire area of La Pintada and had many interesting recollections of a childhood in that very rural community. He was a member of the Pintada Community Water Well association and served as its secretary treasurer for years. One of the projects was to restore the local Catholic church, La Sagrada Familia, The Holy Family. The church had fallen into disrepair over the years, but over the last two decades it has been completely restored. The latest project was completely replacing the roof. Alcario was always very generous in his financial support. They also remodeled the old Pintada elementary school and converted it into a community center. Sunday mass is celebrated at Pintada one Sunday each month. The community joins together for a meal at their community center after the mass and enjoys visiting with each other. Alcario was a member of what is known as “The Greatest Generation.” He was one of the few last surviving World War II veterans from Guadalupe County. He was preceded in death by his wife, Stella; parents, Alcario and Faustina Martínez; brothers and sisters José León, Savinita Gonzales, Rogaciana Martínez, Frances Campos, Napoleón , and Faustín. He was also preceded in death by his nephew, Gerald Gonzales, and niece, Joyce Gonzales. He is survived by his brother Porfirio Rudy Martinez and his sister Amelia Wallace. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Magdalena Romero, and brother-in-law, Eloy Ulibarrí. He is survived by nephews Gilbert Campos, Eddie Campos and wife Dolores, Joey Campos, and Arthur Campos. He is also survived by his nephew, Gilbert Ulibarrí and wife Shirley, nephew Pat Martínez and wife Gloria, niece Linda Gutiérrez and husband Michael, and niece Rosemary Flores and husband John. The passing of Mr. Martínez will leave a void in all his friends. However, everyone will also have the many happy memories of his friendship. He was the type of man that can best be epitomized by that quotation made popular by the late Will Rogers, “I never met a person I didn’t like.” Rosary services will be held on Wednesday, December21, at 10:00 AM from St. Rose of Lima Church with Mass of Christian Burial to follow with Father Sotero A. Sena officiating and Deacon Marvin Marquez assisting. Burial will follow in the family plot at St. Joseph Cemetery. Serving as Pallbearers will be Tim Campos, Manuel Martinez, Andre Martinez, Catarino Romo, Javier Urban, Paul Griego, Tony Ulibarri and Phillip Romero. Serving as Honorary Pallbearers will be Dan Flores, Blas Hohne, Laute Lucero, Larry Nelson, Eddie Cordova and Vince Cordova. All services for Mr. Martinez have been entrusted to the Chavez Funeral Home of Santa Rosa. To place an online condolence please visit our website at www.chavezfuneralhome.com ¡Que En Paz Descanse! ¡Vaya con Dios amigo!