Maybelline V. Perea

Your life was a blessing. Your memory was a treasure. You are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure.

Maybelline Viola Perea

May 12th, 1962 – January 8th, 2025

Maybelline Viola Perea, 62, beloved wife, mother, sister, aunt, and friend gained her wings on Wednesday January 8th, 2025.  After graduating from high school, Maybelline attended the University of Albuquerque but chose to defer her education and begin a family.  She married Thomas T. Shoats bearing two children: Christopher J. and Chantel R. Shoats.

Maybelline is survived by her children, grandsons Joshua and Ezekiel, sisters Nancy Garcia, Merlinda Gallegos, Denise Perea, Judy Perea and brothers Billy Gomez, Richard and wife Rose Gomez.  Twenty-two nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews also survive Maybelline. With much sadness, her mother Encarnacion “Stella” Medina Gomez passed away one week later on Tuesday January 14, 2025.

Her husband Thomas, father Luis R. Perea Sr., and her brothers Florencio Gomez Jr., Anthony Gomez, Luis R. Perea, Charles Gomez and paternal and maternal grandparents Ramon and Fidela Lucero Perea, and Delfino V. and Maria Concepcion “Chonita” Martinez Medina, preceded Maybelline in death.

Maybelline lived for her grandsons and they brought her the greatest joy. She enjoyed the simplest things in life like cooking her favorite spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, and other New Mexico favorites like tamales. She loved baking biscochitos, creating and gifting confection treats during the holidays.  Her two cats, Carmine and John E. (short for John Elway) will surely miss her and the caring ways she treated them and all animals encountered.

Maybelline is and will always be missed by those who she loved and those who loved her back. Her presence was unmatched and her personality was a force to be reckoned with. She went out of her way for anyone in need of help.  She was the type of strength you wished you could be a percentage of and her legacy will be carried on through generations. 

A rosary will be held at 1:00pm followed by a Catholic service on Saturday February 8, 2025 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 1502 Sara Rd., SE., Rio Rancho, NM 87124.  

Maybelline’s interment with her husband, Thomas, will be on Monday February 10, 2025 at 1:30 pm at the Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, NM.  

In lieu of flowers at the rosary and mass, please consider donating to a pet rescue of your choice.