Anna Martinez

Anna grew up on a farm in Phoenix with her 5 siblings, Ish, Johnny, Tony, Carmen, and Lola. Following her graduation from North High School, she became a dental technician after attending school in San Francisco for six months. She met her future husband, Leodoro Martinez at the Grumman building where she was going to have her tonsils removed. Following their marriage, they started a family where she lived in the same home for over 60 years. Wanting to be close to her children she found the perfect career working in a school cafeteria as a baker so she could be home by the time her kids came home from school. She was soon promoted to the cafeteria manager in the Alhambra School District where she worked for 27 years.

Following her marriage, she became involved with the Catholic church and her family became one of the original families to start attending the newly opened St. Louis the King Catholic Church in Glendale, AZ in 1962. She volunteered at the Church in various positions, cleaning the church and baking for church events, managing the gift shop, and counting donations. She was known for making the best tamales at Christmas and making Menudo and Buñuelos for New Year’s Day. Family and friends were always stopping by on New Year’s Day sitting around the kitchen table celebrating and honoring this family tradition. Later on in her life, she was well known for making and giving out her infamous peanut brittle to friends and family.

Anna loved to laugh, be around her family, and always loved to have family and friends over for a meal. You could always be assured she had a pot of beans simmering on the stove in the kitchen and could be seen making homemade tortillas almost every day. Anna walked around her neighborhood everyday except Sunday to stay in shape. She maintained this exercise routine until she was 85. 

She is survived by her 3 children, her daughters, Debbie Mann married to Greg, Christine Hughes, and her son Leo married to Hilary. She has 5 grandchildren, Justin Hughes, Alicia Jasken, Brandon Martinez married to Ashley, Matthew Mann and Megan Howard married to Andrew. She also has 5 great grandchildren Allie, Kyndal, & Kinleigh Martinez, Thomas & Henry Howard and a great-great grandson Cain Isaac, who is on the way.

Anna is preceded in death by her husband, Leodoro Martinez.