Joseph Liedecke has worked for San Antonio College for more than 20 years and has a passion for keeping the college community engaged. Every year, the student success coordinator with SAC’s Office of Student Life, builds an ofrenda in the Loftin Student Center atrium to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of The Dead.
Liedecke asks students to send in photos of their loved ones to remember and honor those they have lost.
Sisters Mia Guidry, a sophomore mechanical engineering student, and Nadia Guidry, a freshman liberal arts student, helped Liedecke set up the ofrenda. Both students said they have lived in Mexico and San Antonio and have seen and learned a lot about the Dia De Los Muertos tradition.
Mia said this is the first year she will be away from her family for Dia De Los Muertos, and she wanted to help set up SAC’s ofrenda to get some practice before setting up an ofrenda in her home with her son.
Dia De Los Muertos is celebrated Oct. 28 through Nov. 2. From the colors to the food, everything has a specific meaning during the holiday.
“Dia De Los Muertos is when the veils begin to get thinner between the living and the afterlife,” Nadia said. “So each day is usually devoted to your loved ones. Not like a specific loved one, but a specific kind, like your pets or children who have passed, or people who passed violently or unexpectedly.”
Ofrendas can have two, three, or seven levels. A two-level ofrenda represents earth and heaven. A three-level ofrenda includes purgatory. A seven-level ofrenda is the most traditional; it represents the necessary steps to rest in peace. The four elements should always be represented on an altar.
“Fire is represented by the candles. Food for Earth. A beverage for water, and wind is usually the banners that are hung or something that moves with the wind,” Nadia explained. “You just put out the food that they loved when they were alive or any knickknacks that they loved. Then they will come; they will eat; they will spend time with you. And then they have to go back.”
Once loved ones come to visit and indulge in the food offered, it is no longer considered nutritious and must be thrown away after the holiday is over.
Liedecke said he encourages all students to submit photos of family, friends and pets they have lost for the ofrenda. Those interested can submit photos at the Office of Student Life or via email at jliedecke@alamo.edu.
