Mrs Maria Ernie E. Maestas Tafoya

Maria was born August 12, 1940 in Cleveland, New Mexico to Ramejio and Mary Maestas. She was the oldest of the females in a family of 14 brothers and sisters. Maria worked and went to school as well as help her mother with her younger siblings. Maria’s original language was Spanish; however she taught herself how to speak English by reading the dictionary. She also made a lot of her own clothes. While working as a waitress, she met an Air Force gentleman by the name of Richard Tafoya. Richard would come into the restaurant almost every day. Constantly he would ask Maria out on a date. Maria would always turn him down, but that didn’t stop Richard. He continued to “bug her”. Finally Maria gave in and agreed to go out with him. Maria would tell the story of their first date. They went to the beach and Richard wowed her with his very fit and muscular frame.

They continued dating and then on March 1, 1959 Maria Maestas married Richard Tafoya. Although they were married, Maria and Richard were apart for the beginning of their marriage due to Richard being in the Air Force and being stationed in St. Louis. Maria lived at home with her family in La Junta, Colorado, therefore her and Richard would constantly write letters to each other. In one of the letters Maria had mentioned how she was considering joining the Navy as a nurse. However after marrying Richard plans changed. All she wanted was to be with her husband. Finally Richard’s discharge was granted and him and Maria could begin their lives together. As the years passed they had 3 children, Ruby, Richard, and Rebecca. As a family they loved to go camping and take a lot of road trips to visit family.

In 1995 Richard suddenly took ill after having a stroke that left him speechless and paralyzed on his right side. Maria showed her continued intense love for her husband. She would work full time as a housekeeper in a nursing home, then immediately after work she would go to the nursing home where Richard was staying at while doing his physical therapy. She would make sure he was cleaned up and being taken care of. Maria would tend to him and put him to bed around 9:30 or 10:00. She then would come home and have a little bit of dinner and go to bed only to get up at 6am to do it all again. This went on for 2 months. Maria was determined to get Richard home as soon as possible. She finally was able to bring her husband home and care for him like she wanted. After 2 years of taking care of Richard at home, he had another stroke in his sleep. He was placed on life support for a week and passed away on July 27, 1997. They were married for 38 years. Maria was very heartbroken and became very depressed. Then in 1998 Maria had to have heart surgery. She had a quadruple bypass. She recovered from her surgery slowly. Eventually as time went on Maria would take her little poodle “Baby out for walks. She would walk at a slow pace at the beginning, then little by little she would walk faster and faster leaving “Baby” at home because she couldn’t keep up. It wasn’t long before Maria started jogging. She was very active and was now jogging up to 20 miles a day. This went on for some time until her body started to hurt from the extreme exercising she would do every day. She slowed down to just walking again.

Five years later after Richard’s passing, Maria met a man that lived in her apartment complex, Walter Madril. Her and Walter became very close friends. He was her companion for almost 10 years. They would go gambling in Central City as often as possible. While living with Walter, Maria became very ill and was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia. The disease took over making it difficult for Maria to do everyday chores such as cooking, laundry, etc. She eventually had to go live with her daughter Rebecca and granddaughter Gea. They were to help her with her daily activities. Within the year she lived with her daughter and granddaughter her disease progressed and it became extremely difficult for Maria to do anything for herself. She even lost the ability to walk or even feed herself. It got to the point to where Maria was wanting to give up. She did not want to have anyone taking care of her. She has always been a very independent woman, and then to have people do everything for her was making her fall into a deep depression. She no longer wanted to keep going. On January 1, 2013 Maria stopped eating and drinking. She wanted to go be with her beloved husband Richard.

Visitation Sunday, January 13, 2013 from 1pm to 5pm at Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary. Services Monday, January 14, 2013, 11:30am at the Chapel of Peace located on the grounds of Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary & Cemetery. She will be laid to rest with her husband Richard at Ft. Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

Maria had 3 children, 17 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. Maria was very loved and respected by everyone. She loved to joke around and was so full of life. On January 6, 2013 that vibrant and beautiful woman Maria passed away at 9:40 am in her own bed at home surrounded by her children and some of her grandchildren.

You will be greatly missed, but we all know you are reunited with your true love, no longer sad, no longer in pain. We will see you again. We love you.

Love always, Your Family