Flora Salazar

Flora Martinez de Salazar, age 91, passed away peacefully on Thursday February 25th, 2021. Flora, a longtime resident of El Guache, New Mexico, is survived by her children Teresa Kerstiens (Lyle) of Santa Fe, Deacon Miguel Salazar (Rosalie) of El Guache, Gloria Shuttles (Bob) of La Mesilla, Jose Salazar of Albuquerque and close grand-daughter Erica Manzanares (Gregory) of Alcalde; grandchildren: Jennifer Garcia  (Lorenzo Julian), Eron Kerstiens (Teri), Isaac Salazar (Nadia), Olivia Caraveo (Victor), Jessica Quintana (Ramon), Amanda Rose Salazar, Justin Salazar, Charles Shuttles (Karrie), Rob Shuttles (Heather) and Bill Shuttles (Stephanie); great grandchildren: Athena Manzanares, Ashlyn Garcia, Peter Salazar, Sarah Salazar, Carmen Salazar, Rosa Salazar, David Salazar, Kevin Salazar, Michael Caraveo, Gianna Caraveo, Joseph Caraveo, Lucia Quintana, Joachim Quintana, Santiago Quintana, and Gabriella Quintana. She is also survived by sisters-in-law, Sadie Salazar (Pat), Bessie Vigil (John), Emily Maestas (Pete) and Laura Prando, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and other close relatives.  Flora was preceded in death by her husband Salomon Salazar, parents David Martinez and Matilde Martinez de Martinez; sister Margaret Nelson (Emory); brother Gilberto Martinez (Annette); grandchildren: Jonathan Garcia and Erica Kerstiens; father-in-law and mother in-law: Jose Miguel Salazar and Teodorita Montoya de Salazar; sisters in-law: Virginia Gonzales (Celestino), Angelina Garcia (Manuel), Cleo Lopez (Margarito); brother in-law Floyd Prando;  Nephews: Larry Lopez, Antonio Jose Garcia, and David Nelson.

Flora was born and raised in Medanales, New Mexico where she lived with her parents and siblings until she was married in 1950.  Flora’s ancestors have a long history in northern New Mexico having lived for many generations in that region including the Medanales, Rio de Chama, Tierra Azul, and Abiquiu areas with familial-roots that extend back to the early colonial days of New Mexico’s Martin-Serrano family.  Flora often reminisced about her early life in the rural Medanales and Rio de Chama areas where she enjoyed the warmth of the close-knit community and her many family ties there with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives.  After Flora was married she devoted herself as a homemaker for her husband and children making a warm, loving, and protective environment for her family.  She raised her children to be good and steadfast Catholics with a deep devotion to their faith.  Flora was an extremely hard working parent caring for her family’s every need.  She never wavered from her devotion and duties no matter how heavy the burdens may have been (even when involved in chasing down errant livestock, irrigating acres of pasture at the break of dawn, or tending the large gardens of chile and corn that she would nurture). Throughout this all, Flora took care of her husband until he passed away at age 87 in 2014 while still working as hard as she could well into 80’s until Parkinson’s disease caused her body to fail.  

Flora enjoyed and, imparted with her family, her joy of cooking, sewing, gardening, tending to the farm and a variety of farm animals that her children often treated as pets.  She grew her own chile pods and roasted the green chiles in late summer and made beautiful red-chile ristras in the fall from which she created many delicious meals but none as special as the tamales she would make for her family and later, due to popular demand, which she made for others or for sale. Taking after her own mother, Flora was an accomplished seamstress, using her creative skills to whip up special holiday outfits for her girls.  As a helpmate, she never hesitated to stand at her husband’s side to help with the livestock, farm/ranch and home maintenance.  Words alone can’t express how Flora will be missed by her family and close relatives including goddaughters Jennifer Garcia and Valerie Vigil-Brown, as well as niece Kathy Garcia de Salazar and husband Jacobo Salazar who often stopped by on Saturday afternoons to visit with their tia Flora and tio Salomon.  Their conversations invariably delved into anecdotes and family history, for which Salomon had a tremendous memory.

The family of Flora Martinez de Salazar wishes to thank those individuals who helped care for her these many years, including Gregory Manzanares, Gloria Palacios, Wendy Romero, Mary Waterman, Carla Levias, Brittany Castillo, Nadine Kellinger, and the hard-working staff of Home Instead of Santa Fe, N.M.  Our sincere appreciation goes out to the Rivera Funeral home for their gentle care of our beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, as well as for her loved ones at this time of great sorrow.

A rosary will be recited at 12:30 p.m. on March 3, 2021 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Espanola, New Mexico.  The funeral mass will follow at 1:00 p.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with Christian burial taking place at the Sacred Heart Cemetery immediately following the funeral mass. All current NM COVID restrictions will be followed (masks, social distancing, mass attendance restrictions).  The funeral mass will be available for viewing on the Sacred Heart of Jesus Facebook page.Serving as pallbearers will be Jacobo Salazar, Gregory Manzanares, Isaac Salazar, Justin Salazar, Victor Caraveo and Lorenzo Julian.