Mabel Irene Vigil Collins
Mabel Irene Vigil Collins, age 81, a resident of Moriarty, NM since 1998 has gone to be with our Lord on Friday, April 13, 2018 surrounded by her family.
She was born to her parents Epimenio Vigil and Adelia Montoya on October 9, 1936 in Guadalupita, NM.
The youngest of five children Mabel was the first in her family’s history to graduate from high school and was a first-generation college graduate. She attended St. Gertrude’s High School in Mora, NM and the School of Nursing, St Vincent’s College in Santa Fe, NM, taught by the Daughters of Charity. Mabel successfully completed her nursing degree and obtained licensing in the states of New Mexico and Florida where she worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse. She married after graduation, worked and had five children after moving from New Mexico to the East Coast. Within 10 years Mabel returned to New Mexico with her five children and raised them on her own. To succeed she took higher paying shift positions and counted every penny to get by. Although the young family struggled, Mabel was a stellar female role model with her strong work ethic, financial creativity, and emotional attentiveness in support of her children. Mabel loved to sing and dance and would light up the room with her presence and her contagious laughter. Because of her beautiful voice, she was the designated family singer for the wedding song named “La Entriega." Mabel’s siblings would visit on the weekend where the singing would last into the wee hours of the morning. Her children fell asleep to laughter, song, and a soothing sense of peace which was a welcomed change. The children’s friends would comment on how nice it was to have a mother who was always singing. It was Mabel who filmed the family events and took to the road to interview relatives about the family’s history. She was an accomplished seamstress and eager to learn new skills, be it laying ceramic flooring, glass fusing, or scrapbooking. Mabel also had a green thumb and turned her small home into a beautiful oasis in the Moriarty Valley. This woman, this strong and wonderful woman was broken when God recalled two of her children, leaving her a shell of the person she had been. Over tens of years she did get better and had always thought of these children every single day, remaining free of bitterness. Again, a stellar female role model. Mabel was a faithful Catholic who was a devoted and loving mother and grandmother. Mabel was an LPN and worked for the VA Hospital in Albuquerque, NM for 26 years. We thank you and will always carry your memory in our hearts.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her name to The Dyslexia Foundation at http://dyslexiafoundation.
org/donation/ She is preceded in death by her parents, Epimenio and Adelia Vigil; brother, Antonio Vigil; sisters, Lourdes Herrera, Helen Gutierrez and Mary Griego; daughter, Della Ann Collins; son, Samuel Alvin Collins.
She is survived by her daughter, Peggy Vickers and husband Murray of Columbia, Maryland; sons, William Collins and Robert Collins and wife Janet all of Moriarty, NM; grandchildren, Samantha Kilgore and husband Tim, Jonathon Cardon and wife Carrie, Janina Vickers, Katrina Vickers and Amanda Collins; great-grandchildren, Georgia, Madison, Jadelyn and Charles; numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends.
Rosary service will be held on Monday, April 16, 2018 at 7:00 pm and the funeral service will be conducted Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 10:00 am, with both services at St. Gertrude Church in Mora, NM with Father Paul Grala S.O.L.T. as Celebrant. Interment will follow at the Guadalupita Cemetery in Guadalupita, NM with the following serving as casket bearers: Robert Collins, Jonathan Cardon, Alfonso Griego, Gil Vigil, Daniel Solis, Steve Martinez and Julian Martinez.
Please visit our website: www.rogersmortuarynm.com to sign the online register book.