After 15 years of being apart, Maria (Sanchez) Cardona was reunited with her husband on Thursday, January 20, 2022, at the age of 92.  Maria was born August 5, 1929 to Aniceto and Hermenegilda Sanchez in Del Rio, Texas. In March of 1946, she was united in marriage to Raul Cardona, Sr., in Eagle Pass, Texas. In 1956, the family moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota where they raised their 10 children together.

Maria Cardona

She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She loved unconditionally and was the backbone of the family. She didn’t raise just her own children, but also had a hand in raising all of us grandchildren. We will never forget your cooking and the smell of Buela’s house. The sounds of your whistling while your slippers shuffled across the floor. You will greatly be missed by every life that you touched.

She was survived by her 8 children Rene, Gloria, Anita (Manuel) Cantu, Cathy (Jay) Broadwell, Ruben (Yolanda) Cardona, Elena (James) Broadwell, Tomas (Michelle) Cardona and Luis (Sandy) Cardona.

Her grand Children and great grandchildren,  Damian (Dusty) Cardona (Damian (daughters Paityn and Myla) David (son Leo), Darik and Skyler (son Brooks) and Demitra) Miguel and Danyel Cardona (Marley, Morgan (son Miles) and Rian) Vince and Tamara Cardona (Vanessa and Dante (son Luka) Justina, Gavin and Nikolas),  Mario Cardona (Hunter and Milania) Jose Sierra (Anya and Marcella) Juana and Nathan Raatz (Dominick, Delaney, Natania, Natalie, Noah, Nehemiah and Natessa) Jaime and Holly Cantu (Cali, Hallie and Nic) Alicia and Robert Leal (Nadia (daughter Aria) Jacob and Christian) Steve Beidel Jr (Steven, Bryce and Hyde) Vanessa Kokolis (Lyle, Amelia and Sebastian) Naomie Lindquist (Natalea and Lyla) Ruben Cardona Ruiz (Valencia) Angela Cardona ( Ezekiel, Esmeralda and Eliseo) Ricardo Cardona, Abigail and Michael Fowler (Tatiana, Liliana and Sayer) Maria and Zeb Neece (Maison, Jonas and Sophie) Dwain and Erica Sundberg (Karsyn and Madden) Antonio Cardona, Krista and Todd Bell (Alex, Kesi, Tony and Tanner) Nick and Taylor Cardona (Violet and Maxwell) Daniel Cardona, Luke and Riley Cardona (Dean).

Maria was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 60 years, Raul Cardona Sr, infant son Ruben, son Raul Jr and great grandson Xavier. There are no formal funeral arrangements to announce at this time.