Remembering Auntie Annie: A life of love, laughter and unshakable faith

For those who knew her, Annie Anaya wasn’t just a relative or a neighbor—she was the heart of the community, and known by many as Auntie Annie.

Though she never had children of her own, Annie was a second mother to dozens of nieces and nephews, a guiding light in her church, and a friend to everyone who crossed her path. Her life was filled with generosity, warmth, and a deep-rooted devotion to faith and family.

One of the most cherished memories shared by her loved ones was a trip she organized to Sea World in San Antonio. She flew a group of her nieces and nephews out just for the experience. “She always made us all feel special,” her niece Eslinda Anaya said.

Annie’s presence was especially strong in the youth group at church, where she served as a leader for more than a decade. She took the group on unforgettable adventures—ice skating trips, lakeside camp-outs, talent shows, and even two journeys to Denver, one for World Youth Day in 1993 to see Pope John Paul II. Her devotion to her faith and family merged beautifully in everything she did.

“She didn’t have children of her own, but we were all her children,” her niece Shanna Anaya said. “She was a godmother to a lot of us, too. She either baptized or confirmed quite a few of her nephews and nieces.”

The nickname “Auntie Annie” started among her nieces and nephews but quickly spread throughout the other children in their youth group and beyond. It was a title of honor.

After retiring from Socorro Electric Co-op, where she worked for 37 years, she became an administrator at San Miguel Mission, a role she took to heart.

“She lived at the church more than she was at home,” her brother Leroy Anaya said. “She loved what she did.”

A natural party planner, holidays were a grand affair with Annie at the helm. During Lent, she prepared traditional lenten meals: salmon loaf, calabacitas, tortas, and macaroni. “She always made a feast,” Shaana said. “And she did it for the whole family.”

Annie was also fiercely independent. Leroy remembered in the 1960s when Annie, his older sister, began working, she bought her parents a refrigerator, then bought her own car—a brown Chevy Nova, three-speed on the column. At barely five feet tall, her nieces remember she had to drive sitting on pillows to reach the pedals. “It was a rite of passage for all the nieces and nephews to grow taller than Auntie Annie,” Shaana said.

Her home was always open—especially on Halloween, when children of all ages would visit her, not just for candy, but to be near someone who radiated love.

“She was our hub,” Eslinda said. “She would really show up for all of us.”

That was certainly true at her niece Shaana’s surprise 50th birthday party, just four days before Annie passed away. “Auntie showed up late because she went to church first,” Eslinda said. “But she went to every single table to talk to everybody when she got there. I love that happened for us because everybody was there, everybody got to see her… We’re so blessed that we had that Saturday night, because we all had something to say about that night.”

“That was our last dance,” Leroy said, of a photo of the siblings dancing at his daughter’s birthday party.

“It was kind of her final gift to all of us. Like here, I’m not going to leave you guys with any regret, any guilt or anything. We all got to see each other and hug each other,” Shaana said.

Annie loved Neil Diamond, George Strait, and Larry Bird. She adored her dogs Azucar and Sassy, a pair of strays that adopted her and who always got their 7 p.m. cheese snack. She shared mornings doing the newspaper crypto puzzle with her brother Leroy, and never forgot a birthday, graduation, or wedding.

Even as her family and community mourn, her memory brings joy. After building a fire last month, her nephew Sefie called Leroy in jest to say, “I think they picked a new Pope today. There’s white smoke coming out of auntie’s chimney.”

Leroy went to his sister’s house to tell her the news. When Annie realized they were teasing her, he said she “pinched the heck” out of him.

“She was small but mighty,” Shaana said.

When Pope Leo XIV was announced the day after Annie passed, her family said their auntie just needed to go give her input on who the new pope should be.

Perhaps her legacy is best captured by her family’s commitment to honoring her traditions. “She brought us all back together this past year,” Eslinda said. “We’d gone to concerts, made tamales, printed photos. She loved it. And now we’re going to keep it going—for her.”