VERGARA, MARIA Maria Casias was born in February 19, 1909 in a different century and a different world in Carnero near Walsenburg, Colorado. Her father, Jose Alberto Casias (Casillas) was a man of many talents employed as a mine supervisor and her mother, Andrea Atencio was a young woman from the villages near Las Huajatollas, now called La Veta. A defining element in Maria's life was the loss of her five siblings in one night to the influenza epidemic which swept the world in the winter of 1918/1919. She was then the sole survivor at age nine. Early in her life, Maria demonstrated an interest in music and learned to play the piano. After starting school at St Mary's in Walsenburg she graduated high school in Pueblo where she provided the graduation music. A second interest was nursing and she enrolled in the nursing education program at Mary Corwin Hospital in Pueblo, Colorado. Her piano abilities were furthered by the many Boston area musicians who were at the hospital for the tuberculosis cure. Funded by Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, Maria went on to Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing for a Master's Degree in Public Health Nursing in 1937 and she provided the music for that graduation. She moved to Rio Arriba County, New Mexico where she was the public health nurse for two years providing medical services in villages however remote throughout the County. She was the County's first public health nurse and her abilities in the Spanish language were highly beneficial. The public health doctor noticed that she was bright, beautiful and talented. Dr. Lautaro Jorge Vergara married Maria on June 24, 1939. He built an office and home of adobe at 1210 Fourth Street in Barelas in the South Valley of Albuquerque. Together they started a family and had three children who all survive: Dr. George Lautaro Vergara, now of Miami Florida; Maria Victoria Vergara Wilson now of Ojo Caliente and Sylvia Ernestina Vergara now of Dixon. In 1946 Dr. Vergara built an adobe home further south in the Valley It was the family home for 67 years. In Albuquerque, Maria was a devout member of the Saint Anne's Parish where she was the organist and choir director for many years. She was a founding member of Saint Anne's Legion of Mary. Maria was the school nurse in South Valley schools of the Albuquerque Public Schools for twenty-two years. She participated as a volunteer in the American Red Cross, the Albuquerque Library system and was an early and active founding member of the Pan American Round Table. She provided piano lessons to many students at no charge. Dr. Vergara wrote seven books of poetry in Spanish over the years and Maria translated them into English. In addition to her children, Maria is survived by eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1982. A reciting of the Rosary will take place Thursday, August 29, 2013 at St. Annes Catholic Church 1400 Arenal Rd. SW at 7:00 pm. Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Friday, August 30, 2013 at 9:00 am at St. Annes; Interment will follow at Mount Calvary Cemetery. Maria will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. To view Service information or leave a condolence please visit www.danielsfuneral.com Garcia Mortuary 717 Stover Ave. SW Albuquerque, NM 87102 505-243-5222