Alejandra Mayor Ancheta

Alejandra Mayor Ancheta was born on February 26th, 1932 in San Marcelino, Zambales. She started teaching right out of high school at age 17, and did so while continuing her college studies. She loved to teach and molded minds for 39 years. She married Bievenido “Ben” Ancheta on May 18, 1958. They had seven wonderful kids, six daughters and one son. Work opportunity for Ben brought them to the United States. After Ben attained special immigration status, they came to New Jersey. Within a couple of years, all their children (as well as a few of their grandchildren) eventually immigrated to the U.S. Alejandra did not continue teaching in the U.S. because she felt it just wouldn’t be the same. But with the help of a coworker, she was able to find employment at Passaic General Hospital as a dietary aid. She worked at Passaic Gen. for 10 years. With her growing number of grandchildren, she invested her time in helping take care of them.

Family was always important to nanay. Sandra has always been an outgoing person, loves to talk to people and she can always be seen with a smile on her face. She has always turned to prayer to help solve problems and encouraged everyone else to do the same. With seven kids and twelve grandchildren, there was nothing else that she cared about more. She had a hand in raising the entire family, from her 7 children, to her 12 grandchildren, across the country. Praying, caring for each other, and becoming a better person were some of her more prominent lessons. Those are lessons we keep and will continue to pass on.