Maria Pilar Ruiz Arciniega, 80, of Brooklyn, New York, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 9, 2024, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She was born on July 28, 1944, in Riaño, a small mountain village in Spain. She left the village as a teenager to seek a better life. Her travels took her to England, and then to America. She eventually settled in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

She taught herself English, earned her GED, and graduated from Hunter College with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. In the late 1970s, she saved enough money to buy an apartment building in Bushwick. She went on to renovate and run the building herself for 40 years. It was there that she welcomed her only son William.

Maria was known by everyone to represent hard work and sacrifice. She was truly selfless and only wanted others around her to be happy. She helped her family back in Spain by funding her sister’s nursing education, and by moving her parents out of the rural village to city of Santander. She was the epitome of the American dream. She always believed that through perseverance and sacrifice she could make life better for the next generation. She had many accomplishments, but the one she was most proud of was being able to call her son “Doctor”, as William was able to make it out of Bushwick to become a Biomedical Engineer and Orthopaedic Surgeon.

Maria was predeceased by her parents Braulio Ruiz Sainz and Adoracion Arciniega Fernandez, as well as her sister Ines.

Maria is survived by her only son Dr. William Baione and his wife Kristen, as well as her niece Diana Jimenez Ruiz.  She was a loving grandmother to Connor, Brendan, and Kiera.

A mass of Christian burial will be offered on Thursday November 14, 2024 at 11 am at The Parish of St. Mary, 1 Phalanx Road, Colts Neck, New Jersey, with interment to follow at St. Gabriel’s Cemetery in Marlboro.

In lieu of flowers the family kindly requests that donations be made in Maria’s honor to the Alzheimer’s Association at https://act.alz.org/donate