Our Father (aka) “Daddy”, “Tata” or “Salitas” to family and numerous friends and acquaintances was born in Longmont, Colorado on April 13, 1929. His parents Benito and Refugio Salas had nine (9) children. Unfortunately, his parents were not able to take care of him at the age of two (2) due to illnesses of his younger siblings. He lived with his grandparents Silverio, Felipa until the age of 14 in El Presidio, Durango. He had a very challenging young life, he worked extremely hard at a very tender age with his uncles by harvesting crops, herding cattle and horses in harsh weather until morning and night on a daily basis.
He finally reunited with his immediate family at the age of 14 and lived with them in Matamoros, Durango for another 4 years. He returned to the USA at the age of 18 and worked tirelessly in agriculture and the railroad. His desire was to stop working in agriculture and traveling throughout the western states. He was determined to find a job that was stationary and he eventually started working at Gladding McBean also known as Interpace.
His dream was to return to Matamoros, marry, and eventually start a family and settle in Lincoln, California. My parents had known each other when they were very young; however, once he saw how our Mother matured, he knew she was the one. They often spoke of their courtship which consisted of them asking permission from our Grandfather, Thomas Carrasco, to converse through a window. They married in 1952, it was a beautiful ceremony, they received many gifts, including some chickens that somehow disappeared! Our sister Vita was born in Matamoros in our parent’s home. Daddy returned to the USA, in order to process our Mother’s and sister’s paperwork, they reunited 2year’s later. Our family grew, my additional siblings are: Liz, Elsa, Estela, Gilbert Jr., and Benny. Including numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren which made our parents very proud and happy.
He had tremendous love for his family, our Uncle Jose Salas would say to him, “Gilberto, you are a very poor man and have small house, why don’t you let two (2) of your children live with me?” He would answer “I may be poor, but I will never leave my children,” and he didn’t! Our parents managed through the years providing for us.
He loved his cars, I recall our parents went to Roseville to go car shopping and that evening they returned with a 1960 Cadillac coupe, it was dark grey and had long bat wings. That car turned out to be our family car, he loved to take his family on long Lincoln country rides. He even taught our sister Vita how to drive that car with a full load of kids in it!
He worked at Gladding McBean for 43 years, retiring in 1995. He always had a strong work ethic, even when he would go out and drink with his buddies, he never missed work. Upon his retirement, he continued to stay busy working at nearby ranches and at Van Dykes Rice Dryer. At home, he took pride in trimming the trees in the front and back of his home. I myself tried to help him with this task, he would tell me how we wanted the leaves trimmed, “give them a flat-top” he would say. I really tried my best, but the work was exhausting. He trimmed those trees until the age of 80!
Daddy’s health began to decline and he endured a tremendous amount of pain, he never gave up always fighting, we were amazed by his endurance. It broke our hearts seeing him in this state of suffering. He was a dedicated Husband, Father, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather. His love was unconditional and he loved life. His presence will be missed, but the numerous memories we shared will be treasured for life.
Our Daddy is no longer suffering he in God’s hands with our Sister Vita.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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