The organization that cares for Rosario Chapel is looking to replace a broken white marble slab that honors 136 Santa Fe-area residents killed in World War II.

"We're trying to raise money to replace this," explained Ignacio Garcia, mayordomo of the Cofradia de la Conquistadora. "But it's not going to be white marble, it's going to be granite. ... Granite is a lot stronger than marble."

Bob Martinez, assistant mayordomo of the church group charged with maintenance of the 1806 chapel and the statue of the Virgin Mary carried there each summer, pointed out several surnames on the slab near the chapel that are prevalent in Santa Fe today, such as Coca and Saiz.

"A lot of these names ... the unusual ones, like the Saizes — I went to school with a lot of the Saizes — so that has to be a grandfather or a great-grandfather," he said. "Cocas — you see Coca's TV there today — so this is probably their great-grandfather."

"World War II veterans today are up in their 80s," Garcia added. "You figure, these young kids who went to war, they were 17, 18, 19 years old. ... A lot of them were kids. They didn't even finish school. Some were 16 and they lied about their age to get in."

In 1949, the Catholic War Veterans, Guadalupe Post and Auxiliary 748 — an organization that no longer exists — erected the slab on an earlier, outdoor altar just east of Rosario Chapel in Rosario Cemetery.

Some time later, the slab fell over and broke. Garcia, 73, who first joined the Cofradia in 1984, said that happened before his time. Although the slab has been pieced back together, the cracks on its face obscure some of the names. For example, Joe Leo Coca's middle name is almost illegible.

Garcia, a Navy veteran of the Korean conflict, said one of the men on the plaque — Reese Hill — was a witness at his confirmation. He said he learned that from Hill's mother, who was kin to his mother. Hill's mother took him to her son's grave at Santa Fe National Cemetery when Garcia worked there and told him about her son.

Garcia said the total cost of replacing the monument will be $7,600 — $6,600 for a rose-colored granite slab with the names etched into it in black-painted letters, and $1,000 for installation.

"Right now, what we're doing, my wife and I are going through all the names to make sure everything's spelled right, so we can send this back to him so (Albuquerque Monument Co.) can get started on it," Garcia said. The manager "said it would take them about two or three weeks."

If all goes well, the slab would be installed by early September, and Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan could bless it at the Pregón de la Fiesta Mass on Sept. 11.

Garcia and Martinez said they hope to gather donations from the fallen soldiers' and sailors' survivors as well as from other veterans. If any veterans organization is interested, Garcia said, they might look into adding side panels honoring those killed in the Korean, Vietnam or even Iraq conflicts.

Donations can be mailed in care of the Rosario World War II Memorial, P.O. Box 2127, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2127. For more information, contact Garcia at 983-9135 or Martinez at 473-0953.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.