lit a candle 20d agomy mom saw this obituary somebody shared and just said 92 years old, seven kids, eleven grandkids. she kept saying it like it was the whole point.
Their story
Carmen M. Montijo was a Meriden, Connecticut, woman who died on September 29, 2026, at the age of 92. Born Carmen Maria Montijo on May 25, 1934, in Toa Baja Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, she was the daughter of Candido and Ramona Miranda Montijo and one of twelve siblings. She spent…
Carmen M. Montijo was a Meriden, Connecticut, woman who died on September 29, 2026, at the age of 92. Born Carmen Maria Montijo on May 25, 1934, in Toa Baja Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, she was the daughter of Candido and Ramona Miranda Montijo and one of twelve siblings. She spent her adult life in Meriden, where she was known within her family and community rather than as a public figure, and the available obituary record does not describe a career, public office, or creative body of work that made her a household name beyond her own circle.
What the record does make clear is the scale and closeness of the family she built. Carmen was the widow of Camilo Santiago, who predeceased her, and she raised seven children: Hilda Santiago, Camilo Santiago, Yvonne Santiago-Duncan, Henry Santiago, Edna Vializ, Claribel Santiago and Freddie Santiago. Her family grew to include eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, a multigenerational household that the funeral notice describes in detail, naming each descendant individually, a sign of how central family was to how she was remembered.
Carmen outlived not only her husband but also two grandsons, Ramon Santiago-Wilson and Moises Badillo, as well as all eleven of her siblings, losses that mark a long life carried through considerable grief. She died at Meriden Health and Rehab, a skilled nursing facility in the city she had called home. No cause of death has been made public, and nothing in available reporting suggests one was disclosed by the family.
Her passing was announced through a funeral home obituary rather than news coverage, which is typical for a private individual rather than a celebrity or public official. There is no indication in the record of an occupation, public honors, or wider community role beyond her family life, and this page will be updated if further verified details become available. Friends and family are invited to gather for a visitation and a Celebration of Life service later this month, with burial to be held privately.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by PennLive.com.
it kind of is