At the end of summer in 1936, harvest time meant there was little time for anything but work. And, for farmers & ranchers in Namiquipa, a small town outside of Chihuahua, it was no different. Amongst the cattle & other livestock, crops of beans rattled in their pods against the breeze, ready for that harvest.
Victor Martinez worked his fields from sun up to sun down & his wife Margarita tended to him with the same care he tended the land, ready, at any moment to deliver his fifth child.
As day turned night, Victor would seek refuge in his books, which he read by candlelight over & over again. One would say he was obsessed with reading about life outside his farm & small town.
Jules Verne, in 1876, wrote “Michel Strogoff” & Victor was transfixed by Nadia, a farmer’s daughter in Verne’s novel, that was just as passionate about life as he was. Just days later, on September 2nd, fiction became reality & Margarita delivered a beautiful baby girl which Victor named Victoria Nadia Martinez — a farmer’s daughter, who he hoped would be just as passionate for life as he was.
Yet, Victor’s joy was short-lived. In his excitement to ride out & share the news of his newborn daughter, his horse bucked & Victor lay motionless, never to hold her again. Victor was gone & so too was life on the farm.
Victoria grew up in Chihuahua under the care of her grandmother. She struggled, along with other family members, to live. Desperation & her passion for life drove Victoria to El Paso, every day praying for a better life for her & her own child.
With what little money she had, she settled in a small apartment downtown, everyday taking a bus to the NCO club on Fort Bliss where she would work as a waitress. It was there that she met a tall, dark, bashful, bear of a man nicknamed "Oso" & fell in love. Guillermo Becerra, known for his persistence, eventually married Victoria & made a life for his new wife & daughter in central El Paso.
Eight years later the family began to grow and within a six-year period, four more children ran through a small three-bedroom house they all called home.
The struggles of a farmer’s daughter named Nadia was more than just a piece of fiction. It was, in fact, an act of God — prayers that had been answered with every bead on a worn rosary that Victoria Nadia Becerra cherished & reminded her always of God’s love.
On July 24, 2023, God welcomed home Victoria Nadia Becerra.
Victoria was preceded in death by her soul-mate & husband of 44 years, Guillermo Becerra; parents Victor & Margarita; brother Manuel & sisters Amalia Issa & Margarita Ortiz.
She is survived by her sons Guillermo Becerra, Jr. & Carlos Becerra; daughters Virginia Keich, Letticia Martinez Cota, Marianne Becerra & Claudia Becerra; 13 grandchildren & 10 great grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Lebrada Martinez.
A visitation for Victoria will be held Monday, July 31, 2023 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Funeraria del Angel Central, 3839 Montana Ave, El Paso, TX 79903. A rosary service will occur Monday, July 31, 2023 at 7:00 PM, 3839 Montana Ave, El Paso, TX 79903. A funeral mass will occur Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 9:30 AM at St Raphael Catholic Church, 2301 Zanzibar Rd, El Paso, Texas 79925. A graveside will occur Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 11:00 AM at Fort Bliss National Cemetery, 5200 Fred Wilson Ave, Fort Bliss, TX 79906.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.FunerariaDelAngelMartin.com for the Becerra family.
