Maria Carmen Miguez Milam

Maria-Carmen Milam, who was born in Madrid, Spain in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, was raised by her mother, but never knew her father, who disappeared as a result of the conflict. Although she suffered the hardships of surviving a civil war and subsequent dictatorship, Maria Carmen would chuckle as she told the story of being secretly baptized by nuns at a palace outside Madrid, where the nuns were hiding. She also fondly recounted how the Catholic sisters later recognized her as an exemplary student and treated her with kindness and deference. Her aptitude for scholarship led her to obtain a university education in Spain, studying history and languages, and to her subsequent career as a translator and office administrator.

It was through her job for the U.S Embassy in Madrid that she met her future husband, an American diplomate, with whom she moved to the U.S. in the 1970’s. After Ford’s death in 1980, she resumed her career, working as an office administrator for non-governmental institutions in the Washington DC area. Maria Carmen was an excellent administrator of finances, an expertise she acquired due to her upbringing during a time of war. After retiring in the late 1990’s, she continued to be interested in many things, including music and art. She enjoyed painting water pastels, singing, playing the organ (which she taught herself how to play it), reading and attending theater shows. She was blessed with an extraordinary memory, wonderful sense of humor and great knowledge of history, all of which she used to entertain her friends during social events.

Although Maria Carmen longed to return to her homeland, her health prevented her from doing so after 2016. Then, due to a short final illness, Maria Carmen departed this life on 1-20-2024. Her friends and family will miss her intelligence and sense of humor. Maria Carmen is survived by her step children, Roger, Kurt, Lisa, and Jim Milam.

Her step children wish to thank Maria Carmen’s good friend, Ana Rosa Pena for much valuable assistance and information, her life-long, cherished friend, Lolita Carrion, for such loyal and long-lasting friendship, and the empathetic caretakers and nurses at Tysons Assisted Living for their kindness and companionship.