Clara Melendres is the name of the wife of Jerry Apodaca.
They got married in 1956. Apodaca had five children named; Cindy, Caroline, Jerry Jr., Jeff and Judy with his wife Clara Apodaca.
Unfortunately, Jerry and Clara separated after having their five children.
Clara Melendres went on to serve as a Cabinet secretary in New Mexico and in the presidential administration of Bill Clinton after the divorce.
Jerry Apodaca, a running back for the University of New Mexico football team, worked as a high school teacher and coach in Albuquerque before entering the insurance industry in Las Cruces.
In his 20s, he won election to the state Senate, representing a somewhat conservative area in southern New Mexico.
Apodaca was a 40-year-old businessman from Las Cruces in 1974 when he narrowly defeated Republican Joe Skeen, who later served as a congressman, to win the governor’s race.
