Genoveva Chavez's Life Remembered

by Denise Kusel
The Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe, N.M. Dec 15, 1999

Genoveva Chavez was a little girl with a dream. She dreamed of becoming a singer, and when you grow up in a town in Northern New Mexico where the roads aren't paved, you make your dream come true the best way you know how. She sang along with the radio, and learned the songs.

It's important to know this because when the $25 million Genoveva Chavez Community Center on Rodeo Road opens its doors in January, it's good to remember the person behind the name and who she was.

It took hard work to evolve into Genoveva Chavez. She grew up in the Banana Hill barrio, which was on the east side on Rodriguez and Armijo streets, and lived with her grandmother, Cleofitas Chavez.

"We had a very musical family, except for me," said her brother Henry Chavez. "You know how some people change through the years? They talk to you today, and tomorrow they forget who you are? My sister was never like that. She was the genuine thing. She loved Fiestas. She'd hear the music from the Plaza and run downtown."

At first, she brought her own records to accompany the voice that would later become synonymous with Fiesta for nearly 40 years. No matter where she lived, she always returned home for Fiesta.

After graduating from Santa Fe High (Class of '61), she went to Los Angeles to seek her fortune in nightclubs in the city's east- side barrio. "We had an apartment with a pool. That was, like wow, we were really living," said Marty Chavez, who grew up with Genoveva and is Henry's wife. Chavez moved to Mexico and worked on the Love Boat, the cruise ship anchored off Acapulco that later spawned the TV series. In Mexico, she continued her passion for music, singing and recording with such notables as Lola Beltran.

"She came home and began singing at Rancho de Chimayo," Marty Chavez said. "She was so friendly. It seemed she knew everyone. "During the day, Chavez worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles, but at night it was the music that kept her dream alive. When people remember her, they also recall her energy. It seemed she was always on the go. So when she began slowing down, it was clear something was wrong.

Although the diagnoses was slow in coming, doctors finally told her she had lupus, an autoimmune disease that attacks the internal organs and causes painful swelling in joints, along with high fevers and skin rashes. Chavez battled the disease for 13 years.

"Nothing seemed to help. I remember she took a lot of remedios," Marty Chavez said. "Now with Christmas coming, I always think of her. She was so organized. She would do her Christmas shopping in October. That last Christmas, she was very sick and in pain, especially in her hands and legs. Sometimes she couldn't move."

Music continued to sustain her. As the end neared, she walked with a cane, leaning it against the stage before climbing up to sing. Genoveva Chavez died on Dec. 5, 1997. She was 55. "She had a very interesting, wonderful life," Marty Chavez said. "She'd be so proud of the community center. She'd probably be singing at the opening. "Yes, and she'd probably know each of us by name. How are things for you?