Trinidad Gomez

Our beloved Trini (Trinidad) Gomez of San Bernardino passed away on August 14, 2026, at the age of 101. Born on May 8, 1925, in Gallup, New Mexico, she spent her early childhood in Cosnino, a Santa Fe Railroad section in northern Arizona. Until age 13, she lived there with her grandparents, Antonia Pichardo Rosalez and Canuto Rosalez. She then lived with her parents, Angel Cosme Rodriguez and Teodora Pichardo Rosalez Rodriguez. Her father was a Section Foreman for the Santa Fe Railroad, and during those years, the family lived in many Santa Fe Railroad Sections along Route 66 in Arizona and New Mexico. Trini boarded with Martín and María Gómez in Gallup so she could attend Gallup High School, where she graduated in 1943. After moving to San Bernardino, she met their son, Joseph Nieto Gómez, in 1944; the couple married the following year.

Trini and her family moved to San Bernardino in 1943, when her father transferred to the Santa Fe Railroad’s Los Angeles Division. Within a week, the railroad hired 18-year-old Trini as a car or yard clerk because she typed 80 words per minute and took shorthand. During World War II, she became one of the first women employed by the Santa Fe and the only woman in the yard office. After a four-year absence to marry and raise two children, she returned to the railroad as a car clerk and later served as the agent's secretary, retiring in 1987 after 40 years of service. Trini was also a strong advocate for education, ensuring that both her daughters and her grandchild received a college education.

Soon after retiring, Trini and her husband, Graciano Gomez, both 62, founded the Inland Empire Hispanic Newspaper. Although neither had experience in journalism or publishing, they learned the business as they went and built an enduring platform for the region’s Hispanic community.

As the newspaper’s office manager, copy editor, and public relations chief, Trini helped oversee its daily operations, editorial quality, and community outreach. To help sustain the newspaper, Trini learned to solicit advertising and attended night school to study newspaper layout and desktop computing. From 1987 to 2009, the publication was the Inland Empire’s largest-circulation minority-owned, Hispanic, English-language newspaper, serving the region for 22 years.

Trini was also actively involved in various community organizations such as

the San Bernardino Symphony, Sinfonia Mexicana, United Way, and the San Bernardino County Mental Health Advisory Committee, California Highway Patrol Personnel Review Panel, and Beta Sigma Phi, a non-academic sorority.

Trini was preceded in death by her spouses, Joseph (Josito) Nieto Gomez, to whom she was married from 1945 until his death in 1967, and Graciano Gomez (1924–2017), to whom she was married from 1978 until his death in 2017; her son, Michael NietoGomez; her grandson, Xavier Gutierrez; her sisters, Isabel Alvarez and Juanita Gonzalez; her brothers, Pedro Rodriguez and Raymond Rodriguez; and her parents, Angel Cosme Rodriguez and Teodora Pichardo Rosalez Rodriguez.

Trini is survived by her sister, Ina Ramarez; daughters Anna Nieto Gomez and Vanessa Nieto Gomez; four grandchildren—Emilio Lazarin, Amalia Nieto Gómez, Marisa Nieto Gómez, and Iliana Gutierrez; six grandchildren—Amara, Ian, John, Zeke, Adria; and Leonardo.

Family and friends are invited to attend the funeral and burial services at Mountain View Mortuary and Cemetery, 570 E. Highland Ave, San Bernardino, California 92404, on September 17, 2026. Chapel services are 10:30-12:30, and burial services are 12:45-1:45. A no-host reception will be held at Mexico Cafe, featuring a two-item menu for $25. Mexico Cafe is at 892 E. Highland Ave, San Bernardino, CA 92404. Please text (909) 694-0256 to RSVP by September 7 to ensure seating.