Celestine Serrano, of Craig, died peacefully at Hope West Hospice in Grand Junction. She was 88. A rosary will be recited at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at Grant Mortuary. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at St. Michael Catholic Church. Burial will follow at Craig Cemetery.
Celestine was born in Tierra Azul, Rio Arriva County, New Mexico to Maria Matilde (Montoya) and Antonio Maria Manzanares. She was the oldest of nine children and lived in the country side. The local post office was in Abiquiu, an hour away.
She started pre-premier, similar to kindergarten, at the Rio Arriva County Public school in Abiquiu, New Mexico until she graduated from eight grade and the family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. She attended ninth grade at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School. In Reverend Albert Schneider’s Spanish class, she won The Best Student Award and received a Velasquez Spanish-English Dictionary.
The family moved to Vernal, Utah, she attended Uintah County High School until her twelfth-grade graduation and received a gold cup for school completion.
She worked at First Security Bank in Vernal, Utah as a secretary and teller. There was a contest for bringing in business into the bank and she won a grey three-piece luggage set. She also worked for US Forest Service and Lloyd Winward prior to her marriage to Anselmo “Robert” Serrano on June 25, 1960 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Robert worked at American Gilsonite Company in Bonanza, Utah before Celestine and Robert moved to Craig, CO in 1962 or 1963 after Robert started a new job. She was a Saint Michael’s Church Alter and Rosary Society member. She sang soprano in both the English and Spanish Choir groups. She also was a lector during mass while Reverend Carl Longwell was in Ireland for a month. She also sang soprano in Evelyn Pierce’s Cantata Choir for 16 years. She really enjoyed the years spent with the Cantata Choir.
While her youngest son participated in Boy Scouts, she was a Boy Scout Club Leader for the cubs attending for the first time. Her daughter participated in The Chipeta Girl Scouts, Brownie Troop 135 in 1981. During the Safari Encampment outing to J. Sherman Camp, she was a group volunteer and she made sopapillas. She received an award for volunteering. There were also outings to The World of Arts and The Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, which she was a group volunteer as well.
Celestine enjoyed dancing and she joined The Boots and Bows Square Dancing Club in the 1980’s. On June 29, 1984, she received an award from Bob Osborn, for Square Dancing.
She is survived by her children, Charles Serrano, Michael Serrano and Janette Gillette; daughter-in-law, Sue Serrano; 10 grandchildren; 9 great-grandchildren; and three siblings: Vince (Grace) Manzanares, Madeline (Will) Garner and Rose Manzanares.
She was preceded in death by her son, Raymond Serrano; her parents, Antonio & Matilde Manzanares; husband, Robert Serrano; siblings, Antonio Manzanares, Carolina Manzanares, Tony Manzanares, Phillip Manzanares and Donilia Reveles.
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