Mary Lizardi Encinias, 93, of Hollister,CA, passed away on September 14th at Hazel Hawkins Hospital, surrounded by her family.

Funeral service to be held at St. Benedict Catholic Church on October 2nd at 11am with Father Stephen Akers officiating. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery, 1100 Hillcrest Rd, Hollister, CA. Reception will be held at Vet’s Hall from 1:30pm to 5:30pm. Visitation will be held at Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home October 1st, 3:00pm - 7:00pm, with the Rosary starting at 5:00pm. Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson will be handling the funeral arrangements.

Mary was born in Williams, AZ to Panfilo and Teofila Lizardi on May 26, 1932. She went to Williams High School and graduated in 1950. She went on to earn her BA from Fresno State, and then her Masters from UCSF. She taught at San Benito High School for 31, teaching Home Economics, Sewing, English, History and Child Development. She also taught night school, an ESL program for adults for the entirety of her teaching career. While at San Benito High School, she started two important annual traditions, the first is Senior’s Parent Night, and second is The Winter Ball. She also started the Girl’s Softball Team, serving as coach in those inaugural years. She would later serve on the Board of Administration for the High School after retiring from teaching in 2006. Her teaching journey did not end there as she would also be an active substitute teacher until age 88. Teaching was her life and as many can attest to here in Hollister, she touched the lives of every student who was lucky enough to have her.

Her passion for education led her to be a lifetime reader, who would continually have about two or three books that she would be reading at any one time. This definitely did not mean she did not enjoy going to the movies, as anyone at Premiere Cinemas can attest, she would go from one movie to the next, obviously buying a ticket for that second movie. Her love of the printed word, the cinema or even education were only surpassed by one thing, her Catholic Faith. Mary was a devout Catholic parishioner who would go to multiple masses on the weekend and during the week, flitting between Immaculate Conception Church, Sacred Heart Church and St Benedict Church, sometimes in the same day. She gave a lot to her churches and even more to her community. Mary was involved in Lulac, DKG, YLI, and a local quilting group.

Mary is survived by her daughter and son, Josie and Mario. As well as her grandchildren, Monica (Joe), Corina, Breianna, and Raymond (Kristen) . Her Great Grandchildren, Michael (Jazmyn), Alexis (Fabian), Aracely, Larissa, Danay, Alyssa, Hayden, Darius, Gabriel, Roman, Isabella, and Julia. Her Great Great Grandchildren, Anthony, MJ, Zakayah, Mayan, Genaro, Gianni, Eliana, Camila, and Larissa. She is preceded in death by Mom and Dad, Teofila Lizardi and Panfilo Lizardi, Brothers Carlos Lizardi, Robert Lizardi, Panfilo Lizardi, and Joe Lizardi, and Sisters Victoria Vargas and Julia Apodaca.