Born in Laguna in 1922, Cruz's sculptor father, Amado, convinced her to become an architect instead of her original desire to be a dentist. Cruz graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in 1947 with a degree in architecture. She placed seventh in the licensure exam, making her the first registered female architect in the Philippines the next year.[1]
Along with her husband Jose Del Rosario, a civil engineer, Cruz designed about 120 homes, edifices, and hospitals in the Philippines, including parts of the University of Baguio. She died in 2024. [2]