Salomon Mercado Rodriguez

On December 9, 2025, Salomon Mercado Rodriguez passed comfortably at Memorial Hermann Pearland Hospital surrounded by his loved ones. Salomon was 89 years old. He was born in Villagrán Tamaulipas, Mexico on October 26th, 1936. His father was Mr. Salomon Mercado Ramirez, and his mom was Mrs. Enriqueta Mercado Rodriguez. He was the 2nd child of 15 brothers and sisters, five of them already deceased. He was Raised in Villagran where he went only up to 6th grade of elementary school. Since he was one of the older kids, he needed to work from a very young age to provide for the rest of the family, therefore he could not continue in school.

He told the story that he started working when he was an 8-year-old kid as a “bolero” and sometimes selling candy and sodas at the local movie theater. Later in life when he was 18 years old, in January of 1954, his father brought him legally to the United States of America along with Flora and Emma, two of his sisters. He immediately started to work as a potato peeler for a Chicago restaurant earning 90 cents per hour, it was not easy. From there he moved to another job in a metallurgic company where his pay was better, but the work was very intense. Many people said if he continued there, he could die by working continuously under extreme hot temperatures beside melting iron. It was then that he moved jobs once more to a company called SLONE where he worked as a machine operator. He worked there for 6 years. He bought his first car in 1957, a pink convertible Cadillac. From there he moved to Houston in 1976 where he worked at TXT refinery. In 1984, he decided to go back to Mexico to reunite with his family and worked as a General Manager at Transportes Tamaulipecos de la Costa where he stayed for 19 years. In 2003 he retired at the age of 67.

Salomon met Amelia Salinas Ayala in December 1962 in the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, IL. It was love at first sight and after only one year of being in the relationship they decided to marry on December 29th, 1963. Amelia was from Agualeguas, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Salomon was married to Amelia for a happy 50 years and 6 months, which they enjoyed a lot with the family. They had two children, Salomon Elmer Mercado and Gerardo Mercado. Salomon Elmer graduated with a CPA degree from Universidad Regiomontana in Monterrey, Mexico and Gerardo graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree from Texas A&M University in USA.

In an interview with his granddaughter Emilia, he said that one of his special moments in his life was the birth of both sons. He enjoyed both of them as little kids and he gave everything possible for them to have a normal life till they graduated from college. Salomon was a man with few friends, as a matter of fact, only Rodolfo Rodriguez and Camilo Rodriquez (both brothers), were considered his only two friends while he was young. Later in life he was re-united with old family friend Lupe Torres, the ranch keeper Lalo Huerta, and Liborio from the bus company.

Salomon loved to listen to music, and he always said that he would want to be a professional dancer if he had the opportunity. He mostly listened and danced to boleros and danzónes from Toña la Negra, Los Panchos, Los Tres Diamantes, Los Aces, Celia Cruz, and regional music from Mexico such as Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernandez, and Rocio Dúrcal. Once he was introduced to “Pandora Radio” in his i-phone, he listened it every day till his last day.

Salomon traveled to several places in the world, to name a few he visited Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, England, Scotland, Chicago, New York City, California, Mexico City, Guanajuato, Veracruz and many more. His honeymoon was in Acapulco; Mexico and he always said his honeymoon was the best of all.

In his final years living in Mexico, Salomon & Amelia resided in Villagrán, where they cultivated a variety of fruit trees at their ranch. Salomon was dedicated to supporting his wife’s initiatives and responsibilities, consistently demonstrating loyalty and commitment. After the passing of his wife Amelia, Salomon Mercado Rodriguez became more reserved.

In 2003 he was diagnosed with colon cancer and had permanent ostomy surgery and radiation treatments in Houston, Texas. At that same time his wife was also diagnosed with Dementia (Alzheimer’s disease) and both moved to Houston. He made his home Houston, TX, since 2006, and he lived with his wife till 2014 and caregivers Patricia Sandoval, Adriana Montes, Mercedes Rodriguez, and Denia Gallo. He is survived by both sons Salomon Elmer Mercado and Gerardo Mercado, and grandchildren, Emilia Rosselli Mercado Moreno of Houston and Salomon Elmer Mercado Montalvo of Monterrey.