Seferino Pineda

Seferino Vicente Pineda of Maize, Kansas passed away peacefully Sunday August 7, 2022. He was born in Shawnee Oklahoma to a mother that sadly did not survive his birth. Blessedly, he was adopted and raised by Vicente Pineda and wife Tomasa who had both immigrated to the US from Mexico. He would be their only child but grew up around many cousins and extended family.

Saffe, as many friends and family knew him as, would often describe his teens years in the 1950’s as being a “Fonzi-like” character who would grow up to surprisingly go on to serve in the Air Force as a military police officer. He was severely injured in an auto accident during that time that would greatly disfigure his face. However, after a year of rehabilitation, he would bounce back and go on to marry and raise a family.

He would eventually meet and marry Georgia Patadal after a short but whirl wind romance. He would often credit Georgia for encouraging and supporting him to enroll in college. He would do so and go on to earn a degree in Education from Northwestern Oklahoma State University, including a Master's Degree.

The element of moving around in the military would carry on in his spirit and would lead him to teach in Oklahoma, several locations in Colorado, including serving as a Bilingual Director but eventually settling in Kansas for remainder of his career. From Garden City to Wichita, and public school to ending his tenure as an educator at the Catholic high school Bishop Carroll, he left his imprint on thousands of students with his knowledge as a history and most importantly, a true educator of Spanish – his first language.

Although he came from a very modest background, he strived to always be the best at what he was: husband, father, friend, cousin and of course teacher. Near the end, he said that he could not complain because he had lived a good long Life. He was preceded in death by his son “Tony” and niece Kristie that he had help raise as his own. Saffe is survived by his wife Georgia Pineda, daughter Michele of Oklahoma, including his son Sean, his granddaughters Natasha and Nikie with her husband Thomas, as well as his great granddaughter Harper J. all from the Wichita area.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ResthavenMortuary-Cemetery.com for the Pineda family.