Celia "Sally" Conception Martinez

Celia (Sally) Conception Martinez, age 95, of the Snake River Valley, passed away on October 13, 2026.

Born on December 6, 1930, in Conejos, Colorado, to Raymond and Virginia Gomez, she married Ben Martinez on October 4, 1948.

Ask anyone in the Snake River Valley who knew Sally, and each person will have a different memory or story to share. But there is one undeniable fact, in all those stories: she was a force.

Sally followed her heart and her new husband, Ben, to the Snake River Valley after their marriage in Colorado in October 1948. She made the move despite warnings from her family that there was nothing out there and that the coming winter would be brutal. As the records will show, the winter of 1948–49 brought unprecedented snowfall. Everything was covered, and the valley struggled. But there is no force more immovable than Sally. Eventually, the winds and snow relented. She never did.

Ben and Sally welcomed their first child in 1951, and over the next 17 years, eight additional siblings joined the family. The ranch was full of life, and Sally kept all her little ducklings in a row, instilling in them a strong foundation rooted in her Catholic faith.

Sally was instrumental in the beginnings of the Catholic community in the valley, attending services in local residents’ homes before the establishment of Our Lady of the Sage Church.

Sally always kept busy, whether she was tending to life at the ranch and keeping track of her children, running the registers at Stage Stop, or finding ways to be involved in the community she loved and valued so much. Her heels clacked down the aisles at a pace most athletes couldn’t match.

In a place she had been warned not to go, a place where she had been told there was nothing, Sally cultivated a rich and vibrant sense of community. Her family is deeply grateful to everyone who has been part of Sally’s life and story.

She will be greatly missed.

Sally was preceded in death by her husband, Ben Martinez, and two of her sons, Ronald Martinez and Christopher Martinez, and her Grandson’s Sean Dorethy and Christopher Ramsey.

She is survived by her children and their spouses: Jerome Martinez, Barb (Pete) Wood; Grace (Craig) Dorethy; Kathryn Ramsey (Brian Funk); Jamie (Tam) Martinez; Veronica Mundy; Stan (Rhonda) Martinez. She also leaves behind a multitude of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even a few great-great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held on October 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the Valley Community Center.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Our Lady of the Sage Catholic Church in Baggs, Wyoming.