Proverbs 31 of the Bible talks about a woman who works all day for her family.

"(She) works from morning to night for her children and her husband," said Rudy Rodriguez. "That was mom — a simple, hard-working lady."

Rudy Rodriguez was talking about his mom, Ernestina Rodriguez, who, on Feb. 22, turned 100. The family celebrated with a gathering attended by more than 250 people on Feb. 20.

Ernestina Rodriguez's great-granddaughter, Jessika Cross, 21, wrote a heartfelt letter and history of Ernestina Rodriguez's life that was distributed at the gathering.

"It was so remarkable to learn about the life of someone who has lived to be 100 years old," Cross wrote in the introduction. "I am only 21 and it is almost unfathomable for me to be able to wrap my head around her lifetime."

Ernestina Roybal was born in El Rancho to Emiliano and Adela Roybal. She was born into a big family — five brothers and sisters, four stepbrothers and a stepsister. When she was a young girl, she met Pedro Rodriguez while she was a student at Loretto Academy and he was a student at St. Michael's High School. They met at a dance.

"My dad was a musician back in those days," Rudy Rodriguez said. He played violin in a large string group called Villeros Allegres. "There were about 20 musicians with sombreros."

Although they didn't date initially, after the Roybal family investigated the Rodriguez family and came to the conclusion that they were a good Catholic family, they were allowed to date — as long as one of her stepbrothers was always chaperoning.

The pair fell in love, married and had seven children. Ernestina Rodriguez has lived in Santa Fe all her life, except for the few years during World War II when the family moved to California. After Pedro Rodriguez was injured in an accident, Ernestina Rodriguez took the reins and got a job, working on military bombers, to support her family.

Eventually the family moved back to Santa Fe. Rudy Rodriguez said his mom was famous for her cooking.

"Her cooking was fabulous," Rudy Rodriguez said. "She was always having something on the table, always making something ... typical Spanish food. Nobody can make panocha or tamales or bread or any of those things like my mom could."

Ernestina Rodriguez also was an avid seamstress in her younger days, oftentimes stitching quilts or making her children clothing.

Cross writes that her great-grandmother got through all her struggles in life because of her faith.

"Her strong faith in God is what has led her through the winding roads of life," Cross writes. "Most recently she fell in her kitchen (and injured) her hip. She had pins put in her hip, a procedure that is almost unheard of for someone her age. Tina is a true survivor."

Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.