James William Sanchez

James W. Sanchez

September, 1941 - February, 2021

James Sanchez of Albuquerque NM passed peacefully amongst family in his home on Saturday February 27th, 2021.  James joins loving parents Esther Velarde Sanchez, Abenicio Sanchez and beloved wife Laura Vigil Sanchez in the eternal and everlasting kingdom of our Lord. He is survived by siblings Gilbert and Kathy Sanchez, Cleo and Nick Gonzales, and Anna Marie and Earl Wade; children Yvonne Topf, Angela Sanchez, and Paul Sanchez; and grandchildren Marissa Sanchez, Miguel Rivera, Derek Topf, Lina Sanchez, Gabriel Rivera, and Sabrina Sanchez.  He was and will forever remain a prominent and beloved figure in the lives and hearts of all of these people and of all of those extended family members and friends whose lives he touched in his time here on earth.  While all will grieve his passing, we are comforted in the fact that he was content in the fruitful and fulfilling life he lived and that he had made his peace with God and had come to know and accept our Lord and Savior and was eager to return home to his loving embrace where he could rejoin sorely missed loved ones absent from his life for far too long.

James was born in September of 1941 in Dixon, New Mexico.  He was the eldest surviving son in what was to become a wonderfully tight knit family with four children.  The son of an educator (mother Esther Velarde Sanchez) and uranium miner, iron worker, and military serviceman (father Abenicio Sanchez), James learned early the values of hard work and education and excelled in academics from a young age.  Some of his early elementary years were spent going to school in Penasco.  He later attended boarding schools at Allison-James middle school in Santa Fe and finished high school at Menaul in Albuquerque graduating with the class of 1959.  After graduation James rejoined his family who had since moved from his hometown of Ojo Sarco to Grants in 1958. It was there that he met and started dating the beautiful young woman and gentle soul that would later become his loving wife and only life partner, Laura Mary Vigil.  James joined the Navy on the 12th of June 1961 with best friend Joe Martinez and became a distinguished Electronics Technician onboard the USS Henry Clay SSBN 625.  He was privileged to be a founding crew member and plank owner of the Henry Clay upon its commission into the fleet on the 20th of February 1964.  James returned to Grants in early spring of 1965 to marry Laura and relocated his newlywed wife to the Henry Clay's home port city of Charleston, South Carolina.  In February of 1966, James and Laura were gifted with the birth of their 1st child, daughter Yvonne Sanchez.  James spent seven noteworthy years in the Navy, separating from the military on 13 November 1968.  James and Laura further expanded their family with the birth of a son Paul Sanchez in March of 1971 and settled more permanently in Colorado Springs to raise them when James took a job with Ford Aerospace Engineering.  With Laura's child bearing years behind her and longing for another child, James and Laura brought adoptive daughter Angela Sanchez (DOB: January 1970) into their family in 1976.  James, always striving to enrich his mind with higher learning obtained the degree of Bachelor of Science in the field of Computer Science in May of 1985 from Chapman College and followed that up with a Masters Certificate in Information Systems from the University of Southern California in October of 1989.  With his advanced degrees and great leadership skills, James flourished in his chosen career field and was a respected senior manager by the time of his retirement.  James was widowed when his beloved wife succumbed to her battle with cancer on July 8th 1999.

James will always be remembered as a seasoned storyteller.  He loved to share mesmerizing stories of his youthful adventures.  His penchant for reading and thirst for knowledge in so many varied fields of study made him a great philosopher of life and master of debate.  His beautifully complex mind was matched with sharp wit and he truly loved making people smile and laugh.  He was looked up to as the head of the family and gifted us all with invaluable life lessons, bits of wisdom, and seeds of encouragement.  He will be terribly missed by all whom his bright light shined upon.

Memorial services for James Sanchez will be held on Saturday March 6 from 3 to 5pm at the Rivera Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens in Santa Fe New Mexico, located at 417 East Rodeo Rd.  Santa Fe, NM 87505.  Interment of his ashes to the Santa Fe National Cemetery will be at some future date to be determined.