Amelia Gonzales-Sanez

Amelia Gonzales-Sanez passed away May 9 2020 at 3:30pm at Howard County General Hospital after a long illness.

Amelia was born on June 12 1946 in San Isidro Lima, Peru. She was a loving mother, grandmother, aunt, daughter and sister. She was known as “Vita” by her children and grandchildren. She was the daughter of Mr. German Felipe Gonzales Coico from Chiclayo, Peru and Mrs. Ernestina Leonarda Sanez Rosas from Ayacucho, Peru. Amelia was one of 13 brothers and sisters. She attended Maria Parado de Bellido High School in Rimac Lima, Peru where she excelled academically earning her a third placed upon graduation. She was also a Girl Scout and played basketball and volleyball for the school. She proceeded to study Education at the prestigious University Federico Villareal where she earned second placed out of 8,000 students on the annual admission test. While in college she wrote a book called “When the Children Play: A Guide For Teaching Children” which was never published due to lack of financial support. In 1968 she left her studies and traveled to Toronto, Canada seeking better opportunities. She worked as a nanny and went to college part time. While living in Toronto Canada she fluently learned and mastered  languages such as Italian, Greek, French and English while interacting with the international community.

In 1969 she immigrated to Washington D.C.  where she held several waitressing jobs while going to college part time. She was admitted to Howard University College to continue her studies in Education, but left after having her daughter. In 1974 she returned to Lima, Peru where she worked as an English teacher for several private schools. In 1980 she left her teaching jobs to raise her two children while she held several part time jobs tutoring students at home. In 1995 she traveled back to Maine, USA and worked in The Portland Cathedral, and The Sisters of Mercy convent as a cook. In 1999 she moved to Maryland and worked at Howard County General Hospital, several local nursing homes and private homes as a private duty caregiver for hospice and geriatric patients. In 2005 she retired to raise her granddaughter.

Amelia was an avid reader of classical novels and international literature. She was a great historian and remembered facts, dates and places of history with great detail. She was a great storyteller. She loved traveling and meeting people from all over the world. She embraced people and will start a conversation with a complete stranger and get to know everything about them in 20 minutes and put a smile on their faces. She wrote short stories and poems for her kids as already published books were not good enough for her standards of teaching. She was known to change the ending of her children's books so  that it would always have a happy ending made up by her. She continued to work and write her daily lesson plans and insisted to have her desk and her books around her for consultation. She loved gardening as the flowers always bloom in the most magnificent multicolors and listening to music and dancing as she did her daily activities. She had two loves Leslie Harding and Agusto Sivirichi whom she respected as the father of her kids. She gave up her own happiness to be a mother.

She is survived by her daughter Dr. Mila Harding-Omar and son-in-law Mr. Hany Omar, and granddaughter Ms. Diana Nour Omar who she raised as her own daughter, son Mr. Alberto Sivirichi and daughter-in-law Mrs. Gwen Stanko Sivirichi and grandsons Mr. Nicholas Sivirichi and Mr. Elliott Sivirichi. She is also survived by her brothers; Segundo, Felix, Enrique, Italo and sisters Vilma, Rosa, Miria and Zoila; her sisters and brothers-in-law including Maria and others, and several loving nieces and nephews including: John, Deborah, Patricia, Veronica, and others. She was preceded in death by her parents German and Ernestina and her siblings Otilia, Bertha, Oscar, Carlos and Eduardo. Rest In Peace our guardian angel.

Due to the CoVid-19 pandemic, services will be held in the future. Please refer to this site for future plans. 

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