Doreen Michelle Lucero Burch

Doreen Michelle Lucero Burch will forever be in our hearts, in loving memories, from her birth on Thursday June 29, 1989 at 11:07 pm, in Alamogordo NM, to the morning she was found dead, at 29 years old, on Saturday January 12, 2019 in Albuquerque, NM.

Sweet memories, including the day she was born after a 2 week delay from her expected birthday that would have caused a hospital birth except for a supportive midwife, experience from having a home birth a couple of years earlier with her brother, Eric, and a dose of castor oil. Doreen truly was the most BEAUTIFUL baby, she was perfectly plump with creamy smooth skin, a head full of curly brown hair, rosy cheeks and lovely red lips. In time her baby blue eyes settled into a gorgeous green brown hazel. Doreen was a BEAUTIFUL child and a BEAUTIFUL woman. No one but Doreen could ever doubt her beautiful appearance.  Doreen had an equally beautiful soul. She was always eager to welcome neighbors with a plate of home baked cookies wanting to know them and for them to know her. Doreen always reached out in LOVE. Raised to cardboard surf on white sand dunes and after it rained, splash in the beaches of White Sands National Park, Doreen woke to the sight of snow along the road in Santa Fe one day and cried out in delight “look at the white sand!” Doreen was an active, helpful person, always ready to contribute to whatever was happening.

Doreen was a bright and talkative little girl. She had a peculiar New York accent when she first started having conversations with others. She was a delightfully charming flower girl in her Aunt Carolyn’s wedding, excited about all the pretty things and new experiences, including riding as she said “in Unca Martees no woof caar”. She gave us quite a scare when she disappeared from the 15th floor of the Petroleum Club during the grand procession of her newly wed Aunt Carolyn and Uncle John.  After checking to make sure she hadn’t somehow taken the elevator down to some other floor in the downtown Abq building she was found in the opposite ballroom slowly twirling in her gorgeous white dress with her basket of wedding flowers held out in front of her, the only one on the dance floor moving with the lights falling  from a rotating ball to the lovely music the pianist appeared to be playing just for her, as the other wedding party and their guests watched from their dinner tables. She was so precious, she was enrolled in ballet lessons soon after that!

As Doreen grew, she wanted to do everything her big brother did. He was in baseball, so she was too. In T-ball, hitting the ball and heading to third base. She was not the athlete her brother is, but she gave it her all. She loved being in Girl Scouts, the friendships, the cookie sales, earning the badges and attending the camps. She did all her religious education steps with equal zeal. She was the one waiting at the door saying “Come on it’s time to go!” not needing constant encouragement to do what was expected of her. Doreen loved people and looked forward to being with them. The dress she wore for her 1st Communion was made from her grandma Dora’s wedding gown, the same dress worn by her mom and her aunts. Family was very important to Doreen. Although she was not happy that her cousin Graciela was born on her 4th Birthday, she embraced her as a special cousin, and she took good care of baby Graciela. At Cibola High School, Doreen was even part of the student senate which required her to go to school early because their meetings were before school started.

Doreen enjoyed artistic expression that started when she was a part of Nickerson’s Young Actors, she joined the Navajo Choir, the Kings Jesters Skit Team and was the singer in a Band while a member of the South Valley Potters House. Doreen related to rap music, and she liked to rap. She was always looking for a rhythm and a rhyme to explain herself and how she saw life. Halloween was Doreen’s favorite celebration and she collected Day of the Dead or Dia de Muertos artifacts. Doreen had an appreciation for art, everything from graffiti to sculpture, she enjoyed creating art and owned many different types of colorful writing instruments that she used in drawing and journaling, she loved a good pen. Doreen put her hand to creating videos, she was a DJ, an MC, a Brand Ambassador and a model; as well as an office manager, a phlebotomist, a Phlebotomy Instructor, a Medical Assistant in Urgent Care Health Clinics,  a resident advisor in a Rehabilitation Center and a special care giver in an Alzheimer’s Care Center. Doreen was a Team Leader Making Strides against Breast Cancer. She worked hard at the many jobs she had and was capable of handling multiple jobs working at SONIC, Mister Car Wash, cleaning restaurant grease traps, while attending school and getting good grades. At the time of her death she was working part time for NORC at the University of Chicago, a non-profit job that she really enjoyed and excelled at, she even received a substantial pay raise in December while at the same time finishing up her Associate Degrees.

Doreen always pursued higher education in the medical field, first by attending massage school, then getting her Medical Assistant Certificate from PIMA Medical Institute in 2012 and ultimately graduating on December 9, 2018 from CNM with her Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts, a Certificate in General Studies and on April 28, 2019  a posthumous Certificate in Biology. Doreen was in the process of entering the University of New Mexico School of Medicine to continue her education towards her career aspiration of becoming a medical professional.

Doreen was full of life and had a kooky sense of fun that drew others to her, she was a natural born leader; well-spoken, passionate, and articulate in her opinions and world view. She thoughtfully cared about the needs of others, had a genuine desire to help and had the ability to give herself to others. Doreen had a BIG heart and no matter how negative a life situation she was in she could be counted on to be available and able to assist others in need. Doreen was accepting of others and had friends who loved her from all walks of life, all races, cultures, lifestyles, and socioeconomic status, from young children to the elderly. Relationships meant a lot to Doreen, it was important to her to make amends, to leave amicably, and she always came back to LOVE.

The death of Doreen Michelle Lucero Burch is a pure tragedy. Only God and Doreen know for sure if her death was an act of suicide or not, what we do know is that it was a peaceful, quiet death and that even in death she was beautiful. Doreen should be remembered as a courageous causality in the war on drugs. The insidious poison that promises relief from pain; physical, emotional, mental.  We have all been there, wanting the pain to stop, the brain to turn off the hurtful reruns, wanting the tears that tear us up to STOP. Like so many of us, Doreen suffered from mood swings, depression, bad decisions that resulted in negative consequences. She knew she was not the person that drugs projected her to be. She was a user, but it was not who she was. Despite her heroin addiction, Doreen accomplished so much and desired to be a positive influence for change. In hopes of breaking the stigma attached to drug abuse she studied the history and the medical reality of addiction. She even created comic scenarios to bring awareness to the addict and non-addict. Doreen fought a good fight, winning many battles, being involved in the Addict to Athlete program, using and teaching yoga and meditation techniques as well as good nutrition to overcome addictive behaviors, learning to care for and love her cat, Diesel, as a means for learning to love and care for herself. Doreen desired to use her God given talent to make a positive difference in the world. For those who knew her Doreen did make a positive difference.

Doreen is survived by her father, Kevin Burch and her mother Vivien (James) Keith, her brother Eric Anthony Lucero Burch, her paternal grandparents Richard (Dorothy) Burch and Patricia Flavian; maternal grandparents Edmundo and Dora Lucero; Uncles David (Judy) Burch, Damian (Adriana) Flavian and Martin Esquivel; Aunts Dannette Burch, Carolyn (John) Scott, Pauline Lucero, Emily Lucero (Jimmy Sanchez), Anita (Bob) Velasco; and cousins Davis Burch, Natalie, Jack and Ryan Scott; Alec, Ryan and Drew Flavian, Patrick Levario, Logan Cuen, Graciela, Marisa and Carlos Jay Esquivel, Santiago and Soledad Sanchez y Lucero, and Antonia Lucero. Doreen was preceded in death by her paternal grandfather William Flavian.