HM 91 — SOCORRO ARAGON, IN RECOGNITION

HOUSE MEMORIAL 91 54TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2019 INTRODUCED BY Brian Egolf 6 8 10 A MEMORIAL RECOGNIZING SOCORRO ARAGON AND HER TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AT THE NEW MEXICO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

145 WHEREAS, after a lifetime of dedicated public advocacy, Socorro Aragón is retiring from the New Mexico house of representatives, where she serves as the human resources e t 17 director;

and w l n d 18 WHEREAS, Socorro first worked for the legislature in 1970 = = 19 a l and then continuously from 1991 to 2019 and will complete i a e r 20 twenty-eight years of service in the New Mexico house of a t m m 21 representatives at the end of the 2019 legislative session;

and d r e 22 WHEREAS, if there were a competition and team captains c e s k 23 were choosing players, Socorro would be the first pick every e a n b 24 time;

and u [ WHEREAS, that is because Socorro is universally known as .215062.1 smart and competent, a go-getter, organized and, most important, a team player;

and WHEREAS, Socorro was raised in a family compound that stretched from Canyon road to the acequia Madre, where the HM 91 influence of her close and caring family carried over a Page 1 lifetime;

and WHEREAS, Socorro graduated from Santa Fe high school, New Mexico highlands university with a bachelor's degree in e e 17 education and the university of New Mexico with a master's e e n d 18 degree;

and = = l ] 19 WHEREAS, while attending New Mexico highlands university, a l r i 20 Socorro met her husband, Arthur, a Korean conflict veteran, who t e a t died in 2016;

and m m 21 e d r e 22 WHEREAS, Socorro and Arthur had five daughters:

Carla c e r c 23 Aragón and her husband Allen Lewis, Michelle Marmion and her e a n b 24 husband Danny Marmion, Dora Anaya, Contessa Serna and her u [ husband Steve Serna and Camille Aragón;

and goddaughter, .215062.1 - 2 - Socorro Ojeda and her mother, Zulema Ojeda;

and WHEREAS, Socorro is a former Santa Fe high school home HM 91 Page 2 economics teacher who is remembered for her work with Governor Jerry Apodaca's office of job training in the 1970s, where she helped many low-income youth enroll in a variety of job training programs, and that experience launched her into a position as a bureau chief with the former New Mexico labor department, where she was one of the first women to be hired in management;

and WHEREAS, Socorro spearheaded the creation of Santa Fe's e e 17 Cathedral park, overseeing every aspect of the endeavor from e e n d 18 making sure donors' names were spelled correctly to following = = l ] 19 up with the brick foundry to ensure the bricks had the right a l r i 20 burnish and were shipped in the correct order;

and t e a t WHEREAS, in honor of her dedication to preserving and m m 21 e d r e 22 celebrating the achievements of Spanish settlers in New Mexico, c e r c 23 Socorro was honored with a proclamation from King Juan Carlos e a n b 24 of Spain with the prestigious "Order of Isabella the Catholic" u [ award given to Spaniards and a select number of non-Spaniards;

.215062.1 - 3 - and WHEREAS, in 2014, Socorro was chosen by the Santa Fe New Mexican as one of ten who made a difference, highlighting her dedication to Spanish culture and her significant contributions to her community, and as a founding board member, she helped spearhead El Rancho de las Golondrinas living history museum and friends of the palace of governors and helped in the effort to get the New Mexico history museum HM 91 Page 3 built;

and e e 17 WHEREAS, Socorro's friends describe her as a woman who is e e n d 18 all about loyalty and love, strength and grace;

and = = l ] 19 WHEREAS, Socorro describes herself as a teacher at heart, a l r i 20 someone who uses her teaching skills to find the good in a t e a t person and then help the person develop it;

and m m 21 e d r e 22 WHEREAS, Socorro's philosophy has been a blessing to c e r c 23 everyone who has had the privilege of knowing and working with e a n b 24 her, from the maintenance staff to the governor's office;

u [ NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF .215062.1 - 4 - REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that recognition be extended to Socorro Aragón for the knowledge, guidance, compassion and humor she has shared with her colleagues and friends in her twenty-eight years at the New Mexico house of representatives;

and HM 91 Page 4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to Socorro Aragón and the family of Socorro Aragón.

-HM 591 -Page 105 125 147 169 e25 e 17 e e n d 18 = = l ] 19 a l r i 20 t e a t m m 21 e d r e 22 c e r c 23 e a n b 24 u [ .215062.1