Last Saturday, as I meandered south from Albuquerque, I ended up driving the main drag through Socorro, New Mexico, and as I passed through an intersection, I looked to my right and saw the face and bell towers of a mission church.

I am unable to resist the pull of such New Mexican cathedrals, so I made a u-turn and headed back to the intersection and made a left and rolled up on the facility.

The street beside the church was lined with cars, and a large lot in front of the chapel was pretty full, three-rows deep, for a Saturday morning. I entered the lot and parked in an end spot on the distant row and grabbed my camera to snap some photos. Under a cool clear blue sky, the mission looked crisp and fresh in a warm rich brown adobe.

On Wikipedia, Santa Fe boasts of having the oldest church- San Miguel Chapel- in the United States, but some Socorro historians and San Miguel congregants challenge that claim. The church’s website suggests that the founding of San Miguel de Socorro predated Santa Fe’s by 12 years, when it was established by two priests from Oñate’s expedition and their native supplicants in 1598. The original structures were destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt in 1680, though, and a restored version of the boxy adobe church appeared in the early 19th century when Spanish settlers returned to the area. The church gained its association with Saint Michael when Apache raiders attacked the village of Socorro in the early 1800’s. The village occupants took shelter from the raiders in the San Miguel’s chapel, and when the natives approached the church, a “winged man wielding a sword” drove the attackers away. The church was renamed after that to honor the Biblical figure.

In 1933, the church received a facelift as it was given its arched facade and its two bell towers, refitting it in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.

In 2016, Old San Miguel Mission was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

I walked toward the front courtyard an started snapping photos of the chapel facade and the towers when I heard the lowing of an organ, and in moments the doors to the chapel opened. A white robed priest hallowed the exit swinging a censer, and behind him a lay leader carrying a tall processional cross led a carted coffin with a tail of funeral attendees out of the sanctuary, across the courtyard, and to a waiting hearse. I was surprised by the excellent turnout for the Saturday morning wedding, and wondered about whose life was being celebrated.

I tried to stay away from the funeral party and snapped a few more photos of the church at a distance before the hearse left church grounds and the assembly dispersed.

Tonight, I found the obituary for the woman who received the service on Saturday:

“Adeline Garcia, age 94, passed away peacefully on Monday, February 20, 2017 at her home in Socorro, NM. She was born in Peralta, NM on September 18, 1922 to Demetrio and Lucia (Sanchez) Jaramillo. Adeline grew up in Albuquerque where she met J. Placido Garcia. They were married on January 3, 1945 in Norfolk, VA. They moved to Socorro in 1957 when Placido was hired as Superintendent for the Socorro Consolidated Schools. Adeline had a witty sense of humor and enjoyed visiting with people. She was very strong in her faith and served as a communion minister at San Miguel and took great pride in being a reader at church. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. She was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, J. Placido Garcia.”

It looks you had a few friends and folks that cared about you, Adeline.