Olivia M. Wakefield

Olivia Margarita Wakefield Virginia and Rudy Sanchez welcomed their first child on April 20th, 1957, in Alexandria, Virginia. As an Airforce Brat, Alexandria was the first of many homes and locations experienced in her childhood. Olivia graduated high school while living in Puerto Rico and then made her way to New York to attend and graduate from SUNY Oneonta. While there, she fell in love with upstate New York and Craig Wakefield. They lived in Albany and welcomed two beautiful children: Samantha and Daniel. When Sam and Dan were both in school, Olivia went to work as a supervisor at the Department of Labor, retiring in 2021. Her siblings Rudy, Enid, and Gerry take full credit for developing her management skills as she spent many years keeping them all in line! Olivia spoke English, Spanish, and recipes. Her love languages were cooking, motherhood, big sisterness, planning, and worrying; thus the need for lists, for phone calls, for news, for exchanging recipes. She enjoyed reading, grilling, altering recipes to fit her taste buds (and what she served was always amazing), crossword puzzles, wine, and laughing. She was generous, kind, and funny. (More lists of her value to us would fill this page.) Olivia’s knack for planning gave Daniel one final, unexpected gift. Months before her bout with hyperthyroidism, Olivia decided to write down everything Daniel would need to know when she passed. She worked on it over months, each day written like a love letter to her son—even ending one list with a note to Daniel saying she was tired and would pick up the work again tomorrow. Our tomorrows with Olivia ended too soon. Our love for her is eternal. Preceded in death by her mother, Virginia; her husband Craig; her beautiful daughter, Samantha. Survived by her father, Rudy Sr.; siblings Rudy Jr. (Patty) and their daughters (Kailee and Stefanie), Enid Quinones (Gilberto) and their children (Michael, Andres, Gabriel, and Rocio), and Gerry (Paola) and their daughters Paola and Sofia; and three great nieces and one great nephew (who knew her fondly as Titi). Celebration of Life will be Saturday, July 12th at 2:00 PM at the Stable Gate Winery - The Lodge, 10-12 Linda Way, Castleton on Hudson, NY.

Olivia M. Wakefield

April 20, 1957 - April 15, 2025