Luz Maria Orozco, a long-time faculty member at the now-closed Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa, died last month at the home of a friend in Pittsburgh. She was 87 years old.
A native of Mexico City, Dr. Orozco was the daughter of a hydraulic engineer and a medical doctor. She was dressed by a maid and driven to school by a chauffeur, but later questioned her life of privilege. She followed her younger sister to the United States. Her sister had joined the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in Davenport, Iowa.
In Iowa, Dr. Orozco earned a bachelor’s degree in French and English at Marycrest College in 1956 and a master’s degree in English from Marquette University in Milwaukee. Later, she would earn a Ph.D. in comparative literature at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Orozco joined the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1958 and took her vows in 1960. She then taught at Marycrest College for eight years before embarking on nearly a decade of postgraduate studies including two stints as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Oxford in England. During this time, she retained her regular faculty appointment at Marycrest College. Dr. Orazco was promoted to full professor in 1976. When Marycrest College closed in 2002, Dr. Orozco served as a teacher at Assumption High School in Davenport.