Maria Elena Vasquez Arrambide, 1934-2021
IMB Photo

Maria Elena Vasquez Arrambide, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Spain, died Dec. 19, 2021. She was 87.

Arrambide was born Dec. 18, 1934, in Los Fresnos, Texas, to the late Luciano and Maria Sandoval Vasquez. She wrote when seeking missionary appointment that while her family lived in Refugio, Texas, a Southern Baptist missionary to Venezuela served as missionary pastor while he was on stateside assignment. He encouraged her and other young people to attend the Mexican Baptist Bible Institute in San Antonio, Texas. There, she met Pedro Arrambide, and they were married on Oct. 8, 1955. “With our marriage we not only dedicated our home to the Lord but also our entire lives,” she wrote.

She worked alongside her husband as he ministered in churches in Texas and Arizona, where she taught children and adults and worked with Woman’s Missionary Union organizations. She wrote that she shared her husband’s feeling about serving in international missions, recognizing the tremendous need of the church and the people in other countries.

In 1984, the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) named the Arrambides missionaries to Spain, where they served eight years. There Maria Elena again worked alongside her husband as he promoted evangelism and missions, visiting and preaching at churches across Spain.

Pedro, Arrambide’s husband of 65 years, died Sept. 24, 2021. They were survived by children and other relatives.