Grandma Coy

For My Grandma...Coy...I wish you could see me now.. and thank you for ME!
my mom is Juliet in this story... I miss you MOM!



The Mother Theresa of Los Lunas
(1906-1992)


Though Katherine Gallegos taught an amazing three generations of Los Lunas residents, her favorite class was always the fourth grade. Even to people never in her room, Gallegos was known for her kindness and dedication to the well being of New Mexicans.

From editing a book on building self-esteem in southwestern children to passing out school supplies bought with her own money, she spent her eight decades on this earth making sure that New Mexicans got a good education and were able to become what they wanted in life.

Katherine Powers Gallegos first came to Los Lunas from Las Vegas when she was eighteen. She began teaching in a one room schoolhouse. When she was twenty-two, she married Eligio Gallegos. They had four children named Juliet, Stephen, Rosalie and Ruth. The family still tells the story of how their mother playfully planned a school picnic in order to meet their father, whom she'd seen riding a horse in the distance. She encouraged his brother, one of her students, to bring him along to the picnic and the rest was history.

Through many years of hard work, she was promoted to Supervisor of Instruction, overseeing curriculum in Los Lunas schools for thirty years. A talented woman, she was well known for her short story, The Sewing Machine and wrote poems that people still enjoy today.

Her love of music, especially waltzes, helped bring a rich curriculum of music for Los Lunas schools at a time when this was highly unusual. Besides creating the orchestral program, she did simple things like bringing the Wizard of Oz and even Shirley Temple movies to students at the school. It was so rare to see movies in those days that students at their fifty year reunions still fondly remembered those opportunities. She even brought her favorite book, Huckleberry Finn, each year to share with students. Tired from school in the evenings, sometimes her family ate meat loaf while at other times they set off to Lot'a Burger, her favorite spot away from school.

But Gallegos was not just an educator, she herself learned new things as well throughout her life. When she first came to Los Lunas and spied that handsome young man riding a white horse who later became her husband, Eligio, she spoke only English. With time and practice, she learned Spanish and increased the ways she could be of service to her community. She was a special favorite of students from Isleta Pueblo, who saw her often as she administered their federal programs.

This project reminds us that we are Katherine Gallegos' legacy. An old rosebush still blooms each year at her old house. Our lives are those blooms she worked so hard to create. We hope to grow into our own lives as adults and take advantage of those opportunities now set before us.


"She was like a Mother Theresa. I wish I had a chance to thank her....."

I had 14 brothers and sisters. She always made sure I had pencils and paper and that we never went hungry. She did the same for many students. A caring, compassionate lady who was always there for the students who needed her. ___Richard Baldonado, 6th grader in 1960