Maria L Bezada

Manuel Jesus Bezada Reyna was raised in a military family, and he followed that path. His father and grandfather were career military officers in the Peruvian Army, and his brother also had a military career. He was a Captain when he was posted to a garrison on the frontier near the Northern border of Peru in the Morona River area. The local Indians were very wild and dangerous in those days - they were head hunters. His son Manuel said that in 1913 the family was told that Indians had attacked the Peruvian Army Garrison and had killed all of the Soldiers and burned the Garrison. His father, Captain Manuel Jesus Bezada had been killed, and his body was never found. He had been scheduled for re-assignment back to Lima, but the orders had not been delivered at the time of the attack. His death was a disaster for his family and affected all of their lives. Because his pension was small, his wife Catalina had to find work to support herself and pay what she could for the support of her children in religious schools. She worked at first as a companion for a rich lady, and later worked in the office of her cousin's business. Her children were separated. The older two girls, Zoila and Maria Luisa, were put in a religious school together, her youngest son Jose went to live in an orphanage school, her youngest daughter Graciela, at age 3, was raised by Nuns in Santa Teresa, a religious orphanage school until age 16. Her eldest son Manuel, was fortunate to be raised by his grandparents Manuel Demetrio Bezada and his wife Clara Reyna. Catalina could only visit her children once a month, and the children did not live with their mother until they were adults.