Laura Christine Sanjurjo

Wife-Mother-Educator-Scholar

Laura was born in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, NYC, daughter of Martha and Roland. After being schooled by Catholic nuns, she went on to obtain a BA at Le Moyne College in Syracuse NY, where she taught high school. She fell in love with the Golden State and its residents’ more friendly and relaxed vibe after attending Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.

Laura obtained a PhD in Spanish from Stanford, where she also taught the language. There, she met her husband, Angel Sanjurjo, with whom she spent over half a century. Laura and Angel began their lives together in Mountain View, later moving to San José after the birth of first son Erik, who was followed two years later by Adam and three years after that by Michael.

Laura balanced the roles of mother and professional expertly in a time when work-life balance was not a common concept. In these years Laura taught high school and later obtained credentials in teaching ESL from UC Berkeley. She obtained state and federal funds to train bilingual teachers and worked in schools from Burlingame to the Hollister area as the family moved into their long-time Penitencia Creek Road home.

Laura served as activity director, daycare provider, 24/7 nurse, cook, cleaner and carpool coordinator, all while working full time. Her career took her to a variety of places across Silicon Valley, from providing ESL instruction to Japanese and Chinese born engineers to co-directing bilingual education programs for the children of farm workers.

Among her career highlights was teaching Spanish at Stanford and UC Santa Cruz. Later, she became a Lecturer at Santa Clara University, a Jesuit school like Le Moyne. Laura and Angel sent their two oldest sons to Bellarmine College Preparatory in San José, also Jesuit.

After seeing the third son leave for college, Laura moved into the family’s summer house in the Monterey Peninsula full time, an area that was to be her home for the next 30 years. First her husband upon retirement and later their youngest son after graduation would join her full time in Pacific Grove. Laura and Angel would later move into a home near downtown Monterey.

Laura helped prepare hundreds of U.S. military personnel for missions abroad as an Associate Professor of Spanish at the Defense Language Institute of Monterey. After “retiring” there, she continued to volunteer and give classes at Pacific Grove Adult Education until just a few years ago.

Her hobbies included voraciously reading mystery novels, scouring Central Coast thrift stores, and very long walks, as long as she was able. She is survived by her husband Angel, her three sons, her brother Steven, and four grandchildren.

A remembrance ceremony is being held in the Monterey area by the family on Sat., Aug. 22. Email [email protected] for details.