AGNEDA "AGNES" SANCHEZ PALMER Agnes passed away June 10, 2010 at the age of 96. She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert M. Palmer; her parents; her brothers: Joe G., Avelino, and Juan B.J. Sanchez; her sisters: Lucrecia S. Vialpando and Mary Irene Sanchez; and nephew, Gregorio McKenzie. Agnes was born on September 4, 1914 to Avelino and Gertrudes Sanchez in the small village of La Villita. She was the granddaughter of Don Gregorio Casados and Don Andres Sanchez. Both the Casados and Sanchez families were prominent farmers and livestock ranchers in Northern New Mexico. Agnes attended school at San Juan Pueblo with the Dominican Sisters and the Loretto Academy in Santa Fe and graduated from the Spanish-American Normal High School at El Rito in 1934. She had a love for teaching and began a teaching career that spanned 40 years in northern New Mexico. She attended Highlands University and St. Joseph College in Albuquerque and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. During World War II, she took a break from teaching and worked in the shipyards and fish processing plants in San Pedro, California. Agnes taught elementary school in San Juan Pueblo, La Villita, Alcalde, Cordova, Abiquiu, and Las Nutrias, and spent the last 17 years of her teaching career at El Rito Elementary School as a principal and teacher. Early in her career, she taught in one-room adobe school houses. In 1935, she started her teaching career at Lower Las Nutrias and rode to school daily in a horse and buggy driven by her great uncle, Manuel Sanchez. In 1968, she married Robert M. Palmer and helped him on their Ojo Caliente Ranch. They later retired and built a home at La Villita and then in 1985 moved to Albuquerque. Agnes is survived by her sisters: Stella Wheeler and Louise Salazar; and her brothers: Ramon N. and Paul Sanchez, all of Santa Fe; sister-in-law, Bernie Sanchez of Santa Cruz de la Canada. In addition, she is survived by a special niece, Sandra Sanchez; and very special friend, Dee Lenius, both of whom cared for Agnes and her husband. Dee's husband, Dick, was also a caregiver for them before he passed. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews. Agnes requested that she be cremated. Cremation has taken place and a Rosary will be recited at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 10 am, and will be immediately followed by the Funeral Mass with a reception following at The Lodge. Internment will follow at the Santa Fe National Cemetery at 1:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to the Carmelite Monastery, 49 Carmel Road, Santa Fe, NM, in Agnes' name.

Published in Santa Fe New Mexican on June 15, 2010