Alice’s life and passing

I’m sorry to hear about Alice’s passing. I want to share some information about how we are related so it doesn’t get lost with some of the children. I was most familiar with Filomena and Lawrence and also new Priscilla. We new that we were distantly related but never paid much attention to that. My mother Frances Marquez was also a Crespin through her mother from the Las Vegas area but better know as “Los Vigiles” which was just east of Montezuma. Montezuma used to be the seminary where men from Mexico came to study for the priesthood. On my mother’s side, she was a cousin of your grandpa, Francisco Crespin and she was very close to both your grandma and grandfather. Your grandmother, Mariquita, used to come over to our house every year just before Christmas to make Biscochito dough, which is a very fond memory. A very New Mexico recipe with a lot of anise. Sometime they would see each other at the “old fashioned” dances that my dad, Hilario Marquez, used to make at different halls in Denver. I remember one hall in particular which was above a drug store on the corner of 8th and Santa Fe. My mother’s mother was Rosita Crespin and she had aunts who were Dorotea, Joanita, and 3-4 other aunts whose names I don’t know. Now there is another Crespin relative, Veronica Barela, who has directed the Westside Santa Fe Dr. NEWSED project. She was my uncle Jose Crespin granddaughter and Jose was also related to my mother but I’m not sure how he was related to your grandfather, Frank. Probably cousins. Anyway, (cousin) Jose Crespin married my dad’s sister, Anita and they lived on or about on 27th and California St. They had two sons, Arcini and the other name slips me right now. Now comes the interesting part, we also have had a successful Crespin reunion in Law Vegas and are planning one for next summer. It would be interesting to see how we are all related and how far back we go. Approximately 18 years ago we were visiting my cousin, Sadie Padilla, in “La Placita del Llano” on the road to Montezuma and a Crespin family had moved in next door. Well that family happened to be related from over a hundred years ago and were separated by the mountains of the Las Vegas area. We went to visit them toward Mora, N.M but unfortunetly we never followed up with that side of the Crespins’. There is an Eloy Perea in the Central City area who’s mother was Dorotea Crespin. Eloy just turned 80 and there were many Crespins there to help celebrate his birthday over the Labor Day weekend. . My only aunt that is living is Amalia Armijo in Las Vegas. She has provided a lot of information regarding our forefathers. We are certain that the Crespin women are Crypto Saphardic Jews that have survived over the hundreds of years as they fled persecution in Mexico when it was New Spain along with the Spanish Inquisition which was enforced when Jews arrived in Mexico. If you or anyone in your family has done some Geneology research, please keep in touch. Incidently, we lived on 33rd and Curtis St when you lived on 34th and Humboldt ST, Your grandfather was living on Franklin St. and I can’t remember the other Crespin who was younger and they also lived near your grandpa. God Bless the Crespins who have left a legacy in New Mexico and Colorado.

Larry Marquez

Thursday, October 1, 2009