Local legend: A life of education, agriculture and community in Socorro

For retired educator Vanetta Perry, her path was shaped as much by family and land as by classrooms and students. The rhythms of farm life — irrigating fields, driving tractors, growing alfalfa and the sweet corn she once sold out of the back of her pickup — have never left the chorus of her life, but for many years blended with her career as a high school administrator.

As a kid her family moved from Oklahoma to farm and ranch in San Antonio. Her father put himself through school to become a dentist to support the property, and Perry grew up inheriting his love of agricultural science and life science. She earned her BS in agriculture with an emphasis in animal science from New Mexico State University, her masters of science in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry from New Mexico Tech, and her doctorate of education from University of New Mexico, all while raising three babies.

“My mom’s family came from West Texas. They were cotton farmers. My dad’s family homesteaded in New Mexico in the late 1800s. They were ranchers from Texas and moved into Grant County,” she said.

When Perry’s family moved to Socorro County in 1969, she was just 11 years old.

“We bought a farm a couple of miles north of San Antonio and a ranch, and that’s where I grew up. I married a local farmer, and we managed the ranch for quite a few years,” she said.

She raised crops ranging from alfalfa hay to sweet corn, which she proudly sold out of the back of her truck on the Socorro plaza “long before there was ever a farmer’s market.”

Even as she worked the land, Perry pursued higher education. She earned her master’s in chemistry at New Mexico Tech, where she later taught biology and led educational outreach programs. “I was working with teachers and interacting with kids in those competitions, and was just passionate about education,” she said.

Her career spanned nine years with Socorro Consolidated Schools and two years as superintendent in Magdalena.

“As a spouse and a mother, particularly a spouse of a farmer and rancher, education is a great career,” Perry said. “We have the same holidays for the most part as kids in school… and the flexibility is there in the summer if we need to do things with our kids.”

Beyond the classroom, Perry opened doors for students through international experiences.

“I did five different high school projects for kids to Brazil,” she said. “Most of those kids, the greatest experience for them traveling was to go to the mall in Albuquerque. And to be able to travel out of the country… those were really amazing.”

She also led groups to Cuba, Ghana, China, and Mexico, experiences that sparked her later career as a tour guide with Road Scholar and eventually inspired her own company, Soulful Traveling.

These days, Perry’s priorities are closer to home.

“My grandkids take precedence over pretty much anything in my life,” she said.

She has nine grandchildren that she delights in, along with seeing her daughter and sons carry on the agricultural tradition in with their own families in Nebraska, Montana and Socorro County.

Perry said she was the middle child of four daughter and one son, and was raised to be independent and work alongside the men.

“Women are capable of doing anything that men can do,” she said. “Instead of saying, ‘I worked like a man,’ I say, ‘I worked like a woman.’”

Her advice to future generations is simple: “Put the phone down and get outside. Get your hands dirty.”

Though retired, Perry remains deeply connected to Socorro.

“I love New Mexico, and I love Socorro and Socorro County,” she said. “It breaks my heart when I hear people talk about how terrible it is to live here. We need to stay enthusiastic about where we live… Socorro County is the center of our state, and it has so much to offer.”