On October 7th, which the Church celebrates as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Virginia Marquez (58) - who prayed the Rosary daily for so many years - took her last breath at 3 pm - the Mercy Hour - peacefully during a nap. She had been suffering from ALS and frontotemporal dementia.

Originally from California, Virginia lived the most of her life in Eagle River, AK, and was very, very active in her parish, St. Andrew's. She ran the Adoration program there for nearly 20 years, building it up from a couple of hours a week to 24/7/365. She was a mom, a mentor to many, and the primary caregiver for her mother-in-law in her home for 5 years. She was also a very active volunteer with Love, INC, organizing huge events for their outreach to the poor. We moved her to Spokane a little over a year ago for her care needs.

Virginia was known for her constant joy. Even as she got weaker and more disabled due to ALS, she remained joyful, and she never, ever complained, but simply offered up her sufferings for the salvation of others. She would often say: "Receiving Jesus in the Eucharist is the most important thing I do all day", and she continued to say that, even as dementia robbed her of the ability to say much of anything else. She still derived spiritual nourishment from going to Mass and to Adoration, right to the very end. Her life was completely dedicating to serving God by serving the poor and through prayer. She inspired many, many people. May her reward be great in Heaven!

Virginia is survived by her son, Mitchell Marquez (20), her mother, Joan Morris, her siblings Paul Morris, Mary Sorensen, and Frank Morris, and her former husband, Dave Marquez.

Her Spokane funeral will be held on Wednesday, October 18th at noon at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral, with a vigil Rosary Tuesday evening at 6 pm at St. Thomas More Parish.

Her Eagle River funeral has not yet been scheduled.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to:
Love, INC
11127 Eagle River Rd #0
Eagle River, AK 99577
(907) 726-5683