If you could measure how passionate a person is about a team, then Eusevia Veloz-Sanchez would probably be pretty close to being the number one Pahrump Valley Trojans fan.
She passed on Jan. 12 at the age of 79. Sanchez-Veloz was the mother of eight boys and two girls, grandmother to 18 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. She was wife to Ben Veloz, who passed away in 2005, for 60 years.
Her daughter Maggie Villa-Veloz said that her mother was unique by our times.
“She really was never involved with the community or politics,” she said. “She was our mother. That was her job. She didn’t even drive. My mother and family moved to Hafen Ranch in 1976. The one thing she did was watch over all of us, cooking and cleaning. That was a big job to keep 10 kids going.”
Villa-Veloz said her mother became a big Trojans fan watching all the kids play sports and she enjoyed all the state competitions in the family.
“Brother Jose Reyes Veloz went to state in track three years for long distance, nephew Armando went to state in basketball one year, nephew Reynaldo in track two years, My daughters Veronica and Angelica four years each — two in volleyball, three in basketball and four in softball. Finally, myself, three state competitions in basketball, one in volleyball and one in track.”
Villa-Veloz said her mother never missed a game and in addition to the state competitions she would go and see all the regular sporting events.
“She went to all the games,” the daughter said. “Not only did she go to the games of my brothers and sisters who were involved in football, soccer, basketball, track and baseball, she also went to the games of her 18 grandkids too. She just loved kids. She helped us all raise our kids. She was really into our kids and our lives.”
Lisa Hamrick (Hafen) grew up knowing the Veloz family and recalled how much the kids were into sports.
“I went to high school with Maggie and played sports with her,” she said. “Her family lived down the street from us and we all played together after school and practiced basketball on the old dirt court between our houses. It was great because with all of her siblings we could field two teams and I have many fond memories.”
Hamrick remembered Veloz-Sanchez as a great mother.
“I remember Mrs. Veloz sitting on a chair in her backyard holding a little white dog watching all the kids play outside,” Hamrick said. “She was an excellent cook and there was always plenty of wonderful food with some to share with the rest of us neighborhood kids. She was a loving mother who was always there for her children and grandchildren whether it would be at sporting events or at home.”
Her brother Reyes Veloz said the majority of his brothers and sisters graduated from Pahrump Valley High School in the 1980s and he also remembers both his parents really getting into the games.
“They would get riled up,” he said. “They got into all the calls. I remember when I got thrown out of a few games there was some shouting. They not only went to the home games, but they took the time to travel all over and just enjoyed the time they spent watching the kids.”
Villa-Veloz added that her mom was so full of passion when she watched the games.
“She would go to all the games and she would get angry if we started to lose,” the daughter said. “She was full of compassion and she passed on her passion for family to all my brothers and sisters.”
She said her mother was also the keeper of family traditions.
“She would always play music from Mexico at family outings and she would cook all the traditional Mexican dishes and passed on those recipes to my siblings,” Villa-Veloz said.
Reyes Veloz said his mother was the best cook.
“My fondest memory of my mother was her cooking and the aroma that filled the house,” he said. “She cooked for all of us and I don’t really know how she kept up. My favorite food would be waking up to the smell of her freshly-made tortillas each morning. She would make them every morning and it was truly an art for her.”
-Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com