Biography:

Hello cousins!
My father, Jose Tranquilino Gurule, Jr., was the second son of my grandfather Jose Tranquilino Gurule, Sr., who was the first-born child of great-grandfather Juan Crisostomo Gurule and his first wife Maria Francisca Sisneros-Gurule. My father, grandfather, and paternal great-grandmother were born in the Trinidad, CO area; and great-grandfather Juan Crisostomo Gurule hailed from Algodones, NM.

When grandfather Tranquilino, Sr. was two years old, his parents separated and great-grandfather Juan Crisostomo returned to his home state of New Mexico, where he eventually entered into a second marriage in Santa Fe with another young lady named Virginia Gurule-Gurule, also from NM, with whom he had seven children. Altogether, great-grandfather Chrisostomo had eight children, including my grandfather Tranquilino Gurule, Sr.

About myself. I am the first of my parents' family of ten children; and I was born in the coal mining community of Valdez, CO, which is a short distance west of Trinidad. In July of 1943 my father quit the coal mine and moved his family to Pleasanton, CA to work for the war effort. My parents liked CA so well, they never returned to our beautiful home state of CO.

I met my husband in 1943 during my Junior year in high school, he had just returned home on his first leave after several tours of duty in the Atlantic with the U.S. Navy. He later transferred to the Pacific and fought in the battles of Iwo Jima, and Okinawa where his ship, the USS Indianapolis, was hit by a Japanese kamikaze and was returned to the San Francisco Bay Area for major repairs.
My photo collection
In June 1945, after graduating from high school, my husband and I were married. One month later his ship was given the Top Secret assignment of delivering the nuclear components that were used in the Atom Bomb that was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, which ultimately lead to the close of WW II. Unfortunately, two days after completing its final mission, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine, leaving more than 800 men stranded in the shark-infested waters of the Pacific for five nights and four days, without food or fresh drinking water, until they were spotted by a young Navy pilot who set off the largest rescue mission of the war. Out of a total of 1,196 crew on the USS Indianapolis, my husband was one of the lucky 317 who survived the Navy's worst tragedy of WW II.

After the war ended my husband and I were blessed with four wonderful children (one daughter and three very athletic sons), and they made us the proud grandparents of eight super grandsons. Before retirement I owned and operated a secretarial service for 18 years. I love reading, gardening, painting with oils and water colors, and also playing my Lowrey Organ. I also enjoy cooking and baking; and I am an avid recipe collector. My husband passed away in November 2002 from the affects of a severe stroke. He was a Purple Heart Veteran of WW II, and a hero of national proportions. May his soul rest in peace!