Marcos V. Romero Sr. was born 14 June 1905 in Llano Quemado to Isidoro Romero and Lucinda Valerio. V was his actual middle name, we believe it was for Valerio his mothers maiden name. He married Mabel Montoya who was born on 30 March 1910 to Pedro “Pete” Montoya and Margarita Lucero. They married on 28 Aug 1924.
Theirs is a very romantic story; As Marcos’ mother Lucinda had died in 1923 a lot was changing in his life, maybe he was wanting to escape for a bit and just live his life. In 1924 he was tending his father Isidoro and Grandfather Juan De Jesus Valerio’s sheep. They owned them together. He was 19 years old and used to spend 3-4 months in the mountains behind their home in the Pot Creek area, before getting a small break to come down to town. Then back up again he would go. Well in early 1924 he was tending sheep with his cousin Polito Valerio and decided he wanted to do other things, so he ran away on his short break. He ran to Colorado where he took a job at a beet farm, while there he met and fell in love with a beautiful girl named Mabel. She was the daughter of the share-cropper at the farm, Pete Montoya. Mabel used to work as a cook, being 13-14 years old this must have been a lot of responsibility for my young grandma. Soon after meeting and falling in love, they were married. Shortly after Marcos’ brother Alfredo and Mabel’s sister Celina also married. They wanted Mabel’s sister Emily to marry Marcos’ brother Amarante but she didn’t like him she liked her future husband Salamon Mascarenas.
Marcos and Mabel had 10 children, they are Lucinda born 25 Aug 1925 in Kersey, Colorado. Lucy was born almost exactly one year after their marriage. Lucy died 31 Dec 2011 at her sister Dorothy’s home. Dorothy Ann born 11 Oct 1928 in La Salle, Colorado. Marcos Victor Jr born 27 Sep 1931 in Kersey, Colorado. Mark died 22 Apr 2015. Viola born 25 Oct 1933 in Talpa. Viola died 9 Feb 1947 in Talpa. Gilbert Cornelio born 4 Jul 1936 in Talpa. Gilbert died on 5 Jun 2018 in Roseville, CA. Pearl born 25 Jul 1940 in Talpa. Pearl died on 5 Oct 2018 in Martinez, CA. Thomas Clyde born 25 Mar 1944. Samuel Carlos born 24 Sep 1946. Sammy died 2 Oct 1974 in Penasco, NM. Bernard born 19 Feb 1948. Bernie died 16 Jan 2017 in Dublin, CA. Eddy Lee born 26 Apr 1952.
Marcos had a dent in his forehead, he told the story of what happened to Marcos Jr and Sandra. When he was a child men used to run around and scare children for Christmas. He had forgotten to shut the barn and he had to go out after dark to shut it. When he came outside the men jumped out and scared him. They started chasing him and he ran right into the wooden fence post. A knot was sticking out and it went into his head. He could not free himself so he had to call his parents. They could not pull it off either, they had to wrap him in blankets and he had to stay out all night. In the morning they were able to see what they were doing and they freed him from the post but he remained with a hole in his head. It healed into a dent like scar.
Marcos and Alfredo bought a farm in 1931 in Colorado, then the depression hit and they had to move home to Llano. That is when they split their father Isidoro’s home in half. The half that was close to the hill belonged to Marcos, the other to Alfredo. Grandpa Isidoro moved into Alfredo’s side of the home. Our side of the home has since fallen.
My Grandpa Marcos worked in Wyoming as a Vaquero or sheep herder. Most likely due to the lack of work in Taos. In order to support his family he spent 6 months to a year away from it. Lucy said every time her Dad came home it was a happy time. But when he left Grandma would be expecting again, which meant more work for the other children. Grandma kept up the house and fed the children. She did the job of the man and the woman when he was away, so the help needed from the children was far greater then most of the other families they knew. Lucy remembered having to run to check the mail everyday for letters from her Dad. Lucy was a very hard worker all her life and when she was young and her mom had a baby she used to help pay the midwife by going to her home and mudding the outside walls. Lucy also told me about walking down the hill to get water, she used to have to haul full buckets up the big hill back to the house.
Grandpa was diagnosed with congestive heart failure so Aunt Judy gave him a glass to hold upside down and a spoon to hit it with so he could call if he needed anything, he rang at 3 am to go to the hospital to die. When everyone heard they all showed up to the hospital, it was around 50 people crowded into his tiny hospital room (to me that proved he was very much loved) he decided he wanted to go home where he could be without so many people around. At 7 am he was eating peaches, Mark went outside to get some wood for the fire, when he brought it in grandpa said “Come and eat,” Mark said “One more arm load,” and he went out he heard Lucy calling and he ran. Grandma had him and she handed him to Mark and he died right then with his head on Mark’s chest. Marcos died on 17 Nov 1985 of congestive heart failure in the trailer home they were living in on their son, Mark’s land. Right where the newer home is except the trailer used to lie the opposite direction. He was cremated and his ashes were buried under a Pine tree on the same land. He lived 80 years.
Aunt Lucy recalled about her father’s death, he really wanted rice so she was preparing rice for him. She says he started grabbing his chest and she ran for Judy because she was a nurse. In recalling, she got pretty emotional, she says she ran out the back door and not the front. She had to run the whole way around the trailer. All the while missing her brother Mark since he had gone the opposite way to the front door. I could tell she had some regret in thinking if she had gone out the front everything would have been ok, but she needed to understand it was her beloved Daddies time to go and nothing was her fault.
Mabel went on to live without her life long companero for 2 years. They had spent 61 years together. Mabel died of complications of Diabetes in Pueblo, Colorado where she had gone to be with her sister on 11 Nov 1987. She was buried in Taos next to her son Sammy and daughter in law Soveida and their unborn baby. She lived 77 years.
On March 25, 1999 a baby girl was found abandoned in a field and she was never identified. They named her Baby Angelica Maria. When she was buried, they chose to bury her right next to Grandma Mabel because they thought she must have been a loving mother and grandmother and they knew she would take care of her.
