Maria Mercedes Vasquez

Maria was born in Ilobasco, El Salvador on 24th of September in 1936 where she worked as a schoolteacher. Maria was a nurturer from a young age and took joy in watching her students grow in both knowledge and spirit. She then met and fell in love with her husband in 1957. and started a family before immigrating to the United States. Maria left all that she knew to give her children the best possible opportunities for their future. Maria was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, a friend and the bedrock of her family. She fought and survived breast cancer twice before succumbing to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Rather than allowing these struggles to define her, she used them to demonstrate who she was. She never stopped teaching as she demonstrated true strength, love and compassion while overcoming adversity after adversity throughout her life. Maria was a woman of faith who put all her trust in the Lord in all things. Her life’s passion was her family and she showered them with unconditional love, support, and affection. She was selfless and loved to cook for them because as she filled their bellies, so would her heart be filled with love and joy. Maria was always attentive over her children, her family, and friends in doing so, built an incredible community of loved ones who always came together to support each other.

Maria is survived by her five children: Andy, Pedro, Juan, Lorena, Rosa; her grandchildren: Nichole, Willy, Alexis, Andrew, Maggie, Anna, Jacob, Patricia, Joshua, great grandchildren, nieces and brother in law Jose. Each of her children went on to have successful careers and start their own beautiful families. Maria took so much joy in seeing her lessons bear fruit in her children with all their accomplishments. She loved seeing her family grow because each new face had a belly she could fill with her warmhearted cooking. Maria built a legacy that not only honored and fulfilled all her sacrifices and promises but made the world a better place. Truly, she will be missed but never forgotten because the evidence of her life’s work, her family, will always carry her with them. And they will teach, they will fight, they will overcome, and they will succeed just as Maria taught them to in the way she lived her life.

Maria’s viewing will be at Demaine Funeral Home in Springfield on Thursday April 13, 2023 from 5:30pm-7:30pm. A church service in remembrance of Maria will be held at Holy Family Catholic Church on Friday April 14, 2023 at 12:00pm to be followed by her burial at Mount Comfort Cemetery at 2:30pm. Please contact Nicole Larrain, (571) 332-7434, if you would like to contribute.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Maria's memory may be made to St. Jude, https://www.stjude.org/.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.demainefunerals.com for the Vasquez family.