Virginia Sanchez

Our beloved mother, Virginia Fernandez Sanchez, left this earth and entered eternal life to be with our heavenly Father. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and guiding light for all of our family members. Her physical presence will be missed however we are grateful for the countless beautiful memories she has left us with. She was a devoted Catholic, praying the rosary every day for her family and anyone else she came across that needed prayers. People often say you only live once however our beloved mother lived every day to the fullest. She passed away on February 9, 2023, in Las Cruces NM at the young age of 98 surrounded by her loving family. She was preceded in death by our father, Frank Sanchez, her parents Catalina and Raul Fernandez, two sisters and four brothers. She is survived by son Raul Sanchez, son Frank Sanchez and daughter-in-law JoAnn Sanchez, daughter Virginia "Vicky" Rivera and son-in-law Jaime Rivera, daughter Rosemary "Rosie" Pogan and son-in-law Danny Pogan, plus 10 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren. Our mother was born in Santiago de Tomatlan, Jalisco, Mexico. She earned a Bachelors in Business Administration and a degree in Fashion Design in which she graduated with honors. Afterwards she met the first love of her life which was our father, Frank Sanchez. They married and moved to the United States for a better life and to start their family settling in Las Cruces, NM. She was a women with many talents and areas of knowledge. She was an excellent cook, designed and sewed clothing and helped our father build their house. Our mother did all other tasks required to maintain a successful home and marriage. Her subsequent loves of her life were her kids, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great- great-grandchildren. She talked and bragged about her family, whom she loved deeply. She was an expert seamstress and made clothing for many people throughout New Mexico. Her hobbies included sewing, gardening, crafting and cooking. She had quite a green thumb and could get plants to grow from fruits she ate. She had her garden where she also raised several vegetables, and even at her age was out there weeding and tending to her garden. You often see people feeding the pigeons in the parks. Our mother fed the quail in her yard. When she went out to feed them, all she had to do was to call out "Here chicky chicky chicky" the quail and their chicks would flock towards her. She loved her pets having both cats and dogs as part of the household up until her passing and will be dearly missed by her cat Kira (named after her favorite Pokemon character) and her dog Chico. Our mother was always very active, exercised weekly and didn't use a walker to get around. She was an avid reader, would check out six to seven books from the library every two weeks. During the pandemic she would go online, pick her books and had them delivered to the house. In her nineties, she started playing "Pokmon GO", the popular worldwide mobile game. She acquired many" Pokemon Go" friends throughout the world. Even during her hospital stay, she continued playing. In this game she accomplished level 45 out of 50. Her computer abilities were amazing. She was a very positive individual, her philosophy was that we can do or achieve anything we wanted as long as we put our mind to it, work hard and never give up. She enjoyed doing outdoor activities with family, boating, hiking, camping, riding jet skis and traveling. Going to Europe was her favorite trip. We will always remember her love of family and life. Services will be held at St. Genevieve's Catholic Church , 100 S. Espina St, Las Cruces NM, Saturday, March 11, 2023. Rosary will begin at 11:00 am, followed by mass. Interment will be after the mass at the St. Genevieve's Columbarium. Reception will be at St. Genevieve's Parish Hall, 1025 E. Las Cruces Ave. after interment.