Carmen Cervantes Makela
Dearest mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and friend, Carmen Mary Cervantes Makela left the temporal world to join her ancestors on Wednesday March 14th 2012.
A longtime resident of Schooley’s Mountain, NJ and more recently Kirkland, WA, Carmen dedicated her career to serving our nation’s veterans as a psychiatric nurse and counselor at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Lyons, NJ, and at VA hospitals in New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. She was an avid gardener, known for her green thumb and passion for flowers and inspired landscapes. She was a poet and an exceptional fine artist, particularly in sculpture, illustration, oil and watercolor painting, and has graced this Earth with many examples of her creative arts. An aficionada of the performing arts, Carmen was a devoted patron of Broadway and a fan of plays, movies, dance, and music, an appreciation that she instilled in her children and family. She was a long-time parishioner of Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic Church on Schooley’s Mountain and was an alumna of the nursing program at the College of St. Catherine in Minneapolis, MN. Above all, Carmen will be remembered for her dedication to friends and family. She was a humanitarian who put people first, always making herself available for a friend in need, lending an understanding ear to young people, or providing care for the sick. She sang. She danced. She created and inspired beauty in the world. Most of all she loved with all of her heart and with her actions. She was the master of the ‘sana sana’ providing a healing hand, love, and comfort to those around her.
Carmen is survived by her children, Rochelle Ann Makela-Goodman, Courtney Atwater Makela, Jr., and Stephanie Jean Hurst, grandchildren Rachel Walsh, Daniel Goodman, Courtney Atwater Makela, III, Alexandra Makela, Emma Makela, Bella Makela, Aidan Hurst, and Maya Hurst, great-grandchild Edward Joseph Walsh, V, siblings Michael Richard Cervantes, Rosemarie Cervantes, Benjamin Cervantes, and Mary Herron.