Sara Pazmino

Sara Victoria Pazmino Egas , known as "Sarita" to her friends and "Ñaña" to her family, passed away at Mt. Vernon Hospital on April 14th. She was 104. At her side were her daughter Yolanda Pazmino Wolf, her granddaughter Monica Wolf Turenne, her son Luis Pazmino and her daughter-in-law Suzy Pazmino. She is also survived by two other grand children, David Wolf, and Patty Pazmino, one granddaughter-in-law, Ana Maria Otero-Otero and 2 grandsons-in-law, Marc Turenne and Luis Sarti, and four great-grandchildren, Mattea and Nicholas Turenne, and Sebastian and Jessica Sarti. Ms. Pazmino was born in Bolivar, Ecuador in 1913 and immigrated to New York City in 1954. In 1970, she moved from Jackson Heights, Queens to Washington D.C. to be close to her daughter's family, residents of Alexandria, Virginia since 1966. She lived at the Watergate South Apartments in Northwest Washington until 2012, when she went to live with her daughter in Riverside Estates in Mt. Vernon, who became her caregiver in the final years of her life. Ms. Pazmino was a volunteer at the Kennedy Center Gift Shop for fifteen years and a parishioner at St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Washington and later at Good Shepherd Church in Mt. Vernon. Ms. Pazmino had an uncanny ability to make nearly every person that came in contact with her like her immediately. She not only made friendships that lasted for decades but also captivated the affection of new passing acquaintances, with her imperfect English, regal elegance, and twinkle in her eye. She made the most of these charms in her trade as a salesperson, working until she was ninety. She was a world traveler until she was ninety-nine, when the last of her international travels took her to a family gathering in Ilhabela Brasil at the home of her grandson David and his wife Ana Maria Otero. Over the previous five decades her favorite destinations included Bangkok, Thailand, where she visited close friends more than ten times and the former Soviet Union where she developed a special reverence for the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. She would delight in recounting the highlights of her journeys with her grandchildren. In 2003, her family feted her with a 90th birthday Afternoon Tea that reflected her passion for fine dining experiences in the nation's Capital. In 2013, her friends and four generations of her family gathered for brunch at the Four Season's Hotel to celebrate her hundredth birthday. She received congratulations from dozens of strangers impressed with her regal poise and incredulous of her real age. Ms. Pazmino shared a special relationship with her son-in-law Maurice, whom she outlived by almost ten years. For the forty five years of his marriage to her daughter, their mutual admiration resulted in the unusual travelling group of married couple and mother–in-law with forays to the Caribbean, Jordan and Israel, and Mr. Wolf's native England. The triumvirate made many trips to visit grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Guatemala, Michigan, and Brasil. When her grandchildren were born in the 1960's she joked that becoming a grandmother was one thing, but being called "Grandma" another. She suggested the nickname "Ñaña", which back in Ecuador meant "sister." The fountain of her youth never ran dry. Her family will lay her ashes to rest in Quito, Ecuador, next to those of her mother, Dolores, and her sisters Luz e Eliza, in the Basilica Cathedral, completing her majestic voyage around the world, in 104 years.

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Sara Pazmino

January 11, 1913 - April 14, 2017