Carmen Otero Velez De Pires

Carmen Ernestina del Rosario Otero Vélez de Pires, known as Carmiña to all who knew her, passed away on September 12th, 2024. She was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 28th, 1953 to Carmen Emilia Vélez Montes and Alejandro Otero Ramos, and she grew up in Manatí. Although she was an only child, she spent her youth surrounded by her large and magnificent family, including her loving grandparents, many wonderful aunts, and countless cousins. Carmiña often reminisced about her childhood during the last year and a half of her life, especially her beloved grandfather, Jórge, and the time she spent playing with her cousins. She excelled in school and made straight As, picking up a love of reading early on in life. In 1970 she started at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, where she earned a BA in Comparative Literature. After teaching for a few years at the Colegio Regional de Aguadilla, she decided to pursue graduate studies in Comparative Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and moved to the mainland United States in 1978. At the University of Illinois she met José, an engineering graduate student. They fell in love and married in 1980. After graduate school they lived in various places, eventually settling first in Mount Sinai, New York, then Irvine, California, followed by Albuquerque, New Mexico, and eventually Frederick, Maryland. Carmiña and José had three children together, and for many years Carmiña dedicated herself to raising them and maintaining a loving home for her family. In 2000, Carmiña began working as a translator and interpreter, most often working for the Albuquerque Public Schools system. While she excelled at both translation and interpretation, she was exceptionally talented as an interpreter, where her warm and welcoming nature put people at ease, and often softened the tensions of difficult situations for all participants. After moving to Frederick, she continued working in these roles, where she became a court-certified interpreter. In addition to getting to know countless interesting people through this work, she became intimately familiar with both the Albuquerque metropolitan area and the Maryland and Virginia areas surrounding Washingtonn, DC. Due to this familiarity, her sense of direction was impeccable, and her family often remarked with fondness that she had a map in her head. Carmiña was an avid reader all her life, reading everything from romance novels, to theology, to literary fiction from all over the world. Her favorite author was Gabriel García Márquez, and she also loved Jane Austen. In grad school she researched the Argentinian author Ernesto Sábato, and she had a particular love for surrealism and magical realism. She was a passionate film buff as well. She loved movies of all kinds, deeply appreciating the beauty of the animated films her children watched when they were young, but also thoroughly enjoying international films, art house films, and romantic comedies. Carmiña gravitated toward love stories most of all, taking joy in happy endings, reflecting her characteristic optimism. She was earnestly eager to discuss what she read and watched, engaging in analysis, appreciative of artistry, and always open to recommendations. Carmiña also had a strong instinct for music, cultivated in her early childhood piano lessons, her beautiful singing voice, and her love of dancing. She filled her life with songs, from classical to jazz, bluegrass to merengue, and classic rock to salsa. She also loved traveling, especially to Portugal, where she would often visit her in-laws, and to France, where she briefly studied during her college years and for which she maintained a lifelong appreciation. While Carmiña loved the arts, her true creative outlet was cooking. She cooked dinner for her family practically every day, often preparing delicious Puerto Rican dishes like asopao, arroz y habichuelas, pollo en leche, flan, tembleque, bacalaítos, and more. She also had other favorites that she prepared regularly, like her delicious Swedish meatballs and lasagna, as well as Portuguese dishes that she picked up after years of marriage to José. The Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons were where Carmiña thrived. During the Albuquerque years, she would open her home to friends during the holidays and cook for everyone, filling the house with laughter and conversation. Every Christmas Eve the family home would be imbued with the delicious aroma of pernil, served alongside arroz con gandules and pasteles, and coquito and tembleque for dessert. After moving to Maryland, Carmiña and her husband found a welcoming community at their parish, St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church. She often volunteered as a lector, where her diction and subtle accent engaged the attention of parishioners. At times she also sang in the choir. She especially loved participating in a Bible study group via the parish, where she cultivated many friendships and enjoyed utilizing her background in literary analysis to discuss the readings. In time, she would often hold these Bible study discussion meetings in her home, where she would once again put her flair for hosting and cooking on display. Carmiña was a compassionate and loving person. She made friends wherever she went and could engage in lively conversation with anyone. She knew cashiers, pharmacists, waiters, and receptionists by name from all the places where she was a regular, and they were always happy to see her. More often than not, strangers would become friends within minutes, and her family remarked that people would often just tell her things as if they’d known her for years. It’s a testament to her character that numerous friends have noted that she was like a sister to them, yet another confirmation of the meaningful relationships that she developed and maintained throughout her life. She was also extremely opinionated and would not hesitate to get into an argument if she deemed it necessary. She was very stubborn, but never truly unbending, and always kind. Carmiña is survived by her husband of 44 years, José Eduardo Antunes Pires, who lovingly cared for her until her death. She is also survived by her children: Sebastián José Otero Pires, Alejandra Isabel Otero Pires, and Álvaro Enrique Otero Pires, and her daughter-in-law, Lucy Anne McInerney. She was diagnosed with glioblastoma in January of 2023, and passed away 20 months after her diagnosis. A visitation will be held Thursday, September 19th, at Keeney and Basford Funeral Homes (106 East Church St, Frederick, MD 21701) from 4 PM to 7 PM. The funeral mass will be held Friday, September 20th, at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Ijamsville (4103 Prices Distillery RD, Ijamsville, MD 21754) at 11 AM, followed by a burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick (515 South Market St, Frederick, MD 21701). In lieu of flowers, the family requests that friends and acquaintances donate to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge or the American Cancer Society Road to Recovery programs in Carmiña’s name. The family would like to thank Dr. Haroon Ahmad, the neuro-oncologist at the University of Maryland, Dr. Mouhamad Bazzi and the staff and nurses at his Progressive Oncology and Hematology clinic in Frederick, and Amy Page from Right at Home. Their expertise and care were invaluable. The family would also like to thank Mary Bonen, the home-communion steward from St. Ignatius, whose ministry brought solace to Carmiña throughout her illness.