Teresita Mata San Nicolas Cruz

Teresita, aka “Terry” or “Tita”, was born in Asan, Guam. She was the eldest daughter of 12 children born to Juan Salas San Nicolas & Maria Manalisay Mata. As a child, she and her family survived the Japanese occupation during WWII. After graduating from high school, she was employed as a schoolteacher. She met her future husband, Antonio “Tony” Cruz, while singing in the church choir. They later married, Tony joined the Navy, and they welcomed their first daughter, Martha aka “Marty”. Soon after, the family moved to Alameda, California, where they welcomed two more daughters, Terri & Annie. Tony was next stationed on Oahu, Hawaii, where they welcomed a son, John, and daughter, Catherine. In 1967, the family moved to San Diego County, living in Imperial Beach for two years before settling into their brand-new home in South San Diego. The Cruz children attended the local schools and the family attended mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in San Ysidro, where Terry was employed as the secretary of the church and school for many years.

During these years, Tony & Terry were very active in the Chamorro community and the Sons & Daughters of Guam Club. Countless siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends would visit, and the Cruzes hosted several family gatherings that consisted of Terry’s delicious Chamorro food & desserts, music, singing, dancing and pool-playing. Each time a new family of cousins was introduced, both families would make trips to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and Disneyland. On the weekends, the Cruz family would make regular trips to Long Beach and Oceanside to visit the San Nicolas and Quinene families. During this time, Terry became an “adopted Mom” to her cousin’s daughter, RoseAnn, who then became part of the Cruz family. Tony & Terry continued to be active in the Chamorro community, but they eventually divorced. Terry moved to Florida for several years to be near her daughter, Terri, and her three granddaughters. She returned to San Diego in 1999 for the birth of her 5th grandchild and traveled to Florida to attend three of her granddaughters’ weddings in the 2000s. She continued to be active in her family’s lives, the Chamorro community, and the Catholic Church for as long as she was physically able.

She is survived by six of her siblings: Guadalupe, Josefina, Joaquina, Jose, Juan and Julia; six children: Marty, Terri (Ricardo) Dela Cruz, Annie (Chris) Magill, John, Cat (Travis) Freed and RoseAnn (Felix) Anderson; 12 grandchildren: Tanisha Cabrera, Marlene (Geoff) Davenport, Lisa (Tadzweil) Barger, Macario (Michele) Cruz-Robles, Mikayla Weathers, Meghan Magill, Jordan Anderson, Travis Freed, Jr., Deion (Alona) Anderson, Dezeree Freed, Ciara Escobales and Racquel Freed; 12 great-grandchildren: Kadrin, Rodric, Jaelyn, Autumn, Jaidyn, Alexandra, Torunn, Julie, Khalia, Aidan, Khatalina and Silas-Rowan; as well as numerous first cousins, nieces, nephews and former in-laws.