[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 103 (Monday, July 23, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          TRIBUTE TO THE LATE CHRISTINA CHAVEZ, OF NEW MEXICO

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JOE BACA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 23, 2001

  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in the memory of my beloved Aunt and 
Godmother, Christina Chavez, of New Mexico,  who passed away on July 
19th, 2001.
  Daughter of Romolo and Mary Baca; wife of Alberto Chavez; mother of 
Josephina Chavez, Joe Chavez, and Nicanora Thomas; grandmother to 
seven, and great-grandmother to five; sister to six brothers; Christina 
will be dearly missed by family and friends.
  Christina's father, Romolo, my grandfather, was President of the 
Conservancy in New Mexico, which oversaw the development of 
immigration. Her mother, Mary, a devoted housewife, passed away very 
young, so Christina stayed home to help raise her brothers.
  Christina married Alberto Chavez in 1945. Alberto's position with the 
Santa Fe Railroad took him away traveling a lot, so Christina spent her 
time raising crops, sheep and cattle on the family farm in Las Nutris, 
New Mexico, and performing the duties of housewife and mother.
  Christina's children recall bailing the hay, feeding the animals, 
milking the cows, and going to school 12 miles away on the school bus. 
They recall her perpetually in motion with housework, cleaning, and 
canning vegetables and fruit.
  Christina loved cooking. Her chile recipe was delicious, and it made 
her famous for miles around. And she could bake bread like you would 
not believe!
  Christina and Alberto built an Orno (Indian) oven outdoors, and in 
the summer months they would bake bread and roast chile. The taste of 
bread and chile made from scratch and baked in an outdoor oven is 
wonderful, much better than anything you can buy in a store.
  And those cakes, cookies, and biscuits! Christina could really bake!
  Christina's brothers, including my father, lived nearby, and would 
always visit and check on her. They marveled at her world-famous 
cooking, and shared a cup of coffee. They were often joined by lots of 
friends and neighbors.
  Christina was a very kind and loving person, always caring about 
people, and she always had her home open. She would welcome people with 
food, and she was always lending a helping hand, opening the door to 
friends and strangers who needed a glass of water or a meal.
  Christina raised three lovely, and successful, children: Josephina, 
who now works as a Security Officer for Sandia National Labs; Joe, who 
retired from the Santa Fe Railroad, where he worked on the cars; and 
Nicanora, who drives a school bus and also plays basketball.
  Her children lovingly recall being raised by their mother: ``We lived 
out in the country. Belen was 12 miles away. Mom would take us to the 
country drug store, Jenny's which had an old soda fountain. They made 
great root beer floats. They were very pure. The store is gone now. 
They tore it down. Mom would also take us to go buy groceries. It was 
like a treat, because we lived so far away from everything.''
  Christina's children remark that one of the best gifts she left them 
was the values she instilled in them. She was very religious, and even 
when she was in the nursing home, she attended church twice a week. She 
liked to pray the Rosary in Spanish.
  Christina taught her children the teachings of the Catholic Church. 
During Lent, she made sure the family did not eat meat on Friday. 
Instead she would serve wild spinach with beans. It was excellent and 
made it much easier to avoid meat! She also made wonderful bread 
pudding with raisins.
  Christina was fond of singing the Hail Mary. She had a lovely voice, 
and her children can still recall her singing in the home:


     Hail Mary
     Full of Grace
     The Lord is with thee . . .


  And she loved to recite the Lord's Prayer:


     Our Father who art in Heaven
     Hallowed be thy name
     Thy Kingdom come
     Thy will be done
     On earth as it is in Heaven
     Give us this day our daily bread
     And forgive us our trespasses
     As we forgive those who trespass against us
     Lead us not into temptation
     But deliver us from evil
     For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever
     Amen.


  Mr. Speaker, a quiet history runs through our Nation, a history that 
is not in our textbooks. In this history, the lonely whistles of the 
Santa Fe railroad can be heard through the night, as a young woman 
bakes bread on a farm. Her household is filled with the good smells of 
chile and coffee. Her children learn the words of our Holy Bible, and 
grow up to be good, God-fearing people with children of their own. From 
her they learn kindness and good deeds, the value of a hard day's work, 
the importance of opening a door to a stranger.
  This is the fabric from which our Nation is built. For often it is 
not the famous and the affluent who shape our country's destiny; 
instead it is women like Christina Chavez, who raise a family one day 
at a time, bake the bread, tend to the farm, go the country store.
  And so, we pay tribute and memory to Christina Chavez, the last of my 
father's generation, my aunt and Godmother, loving mother to Josephina, 
Joe, and Nicanora.
  There is a sadness that comes from great love, but there is also a 
quiet pride. Pride at all the families of Chavez and Baca have achieved 
in this great Nation. That as Latinos and Latinas we have carved a 
place for ourselves in the fabric of its history.
  Mr. Speaker, Christina's children offer these words: ``Thank you Mom 
for family values. You taught us how to be strong. You often raised us 
alone as Dad traveled on the Santa Fe Railroad.''
  And so, I say to Christina, thank you for all you have been to me and 
to your children, all the lives you have touched. God Bless you, we 
miss you, but we know you are in Heaven in the arms of the Lord. Amen.

                          ____________________