Edith Jorquera

Edith Möll Jorquera, née Edith Eliana Möll Lee, age 102, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, of Columbia, Maryland, died on October 23, 2025. Edith was born in Antofagasta, a port city in Chile's arid north, and grew up in Santiago, the capital. She was a long-time student at Santiago College, then an all-girls private school, where she excelled in languages, particularly English and French. She also received a degree in Biology from the Universidad de Chile. In 1949, she married Mario Jorquera, whom she met in Santiago, and who would be her partner in life for the next 73 years. Shortly after the marriage, the new couple moved to Colombia, where they settled in the then small rural town of Villavicencio. Once there, she supported Mario's many entrepreneurial adventures, which included the construction of civil engineering projects, including roads, bridges and water towers. They also bought a farm and pioneered the use of irrigation to grow rice, something then unknown in the region. After living in the wilderness of Colombia for a few years, Edith, Mario and their first child, Lucía, moved to Colombia's capital, Bogotá. Their other two children, Mario Enrique and Marcella, were born in Bogotá. Edith worked for a time as an elementary school teacher, concentrating on teaching languages. During her time in Colombia. Edith reveled as the wife of an attaché to the Chilean embassy in Bogotá, participating in many social gatherings with important dignitaries. In 1965, the family moved to the mountain city of Mérida in Venezuela, where her husband continued teaching at the university there. Edith dedicated herself to be a homemaker, shuttling her kids to music lessons and social activities. In 1967, they moved to Washington, DC where Mario was offered a position as a natural resources expert with the Organization of American States (OAS). While in the U.S., Edith served as a traveling language interpreter for the Department of State, accompanying dignitaries from Spanish-speaking countries in their travels as guests of the U.S. government. These assignments often resulted in life-long friendships with the traveling guests, who encouraged Edith and her husband to visit them when traveling to their countries. In 1977, Mario was appointed as the Director of the OAS office in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where the couple lived until his retirement in 1988. In Trinidad Edith once again enjoyed many celebrations with foreign dignitaries, including an engagement during which she met Queen Elizabeth II, who was still the head of state for Trinidad. In 1988, her husband retired, and the couple returned to the U.S. be closer to their family. Edith loved to travel with her husband, and they visited hundreds of countries across the globe. During their travels, she documented their adventures with detailed logbooks. Survivors include her three children, Lucía Hughes, Mario E. Jorquera and Marcella Jorquera, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Edith Jorquera

September 25, 1923 - October 23, 2025