Savina Torrez

Angels descended on Casa Maria on the evening of November 10, 2009, and escorted our Savina from her life on this earth. The Salcido-Torrez family mourns the loss of a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great great-grandmother, aunt, and friend. Savina Salcido Torrez passed peacefully into the presence of her Lord surrounded by loved ones at her bedside. A rosary will be recited at St. John Church in Roswell at 7:00 PM on Friday, November 13, with visitation beginning at 6:00. Mass of the resurrection will be held on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM at St. Jude Parish in San Patricio, New Mexico, with burial to follow at the Hondo Cemetery. Following the burial, her life will be celebrated at the Hondo home of her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Larry and Dorothy Torrez.

Savina Salcido Torrez was born October 27, 1909, to Maria Chavez Salcido and Faustino Salcido in the Hondo Valley, New Mexico Territory. She attended the Hondo Schools for several years, although not on a regular basis as she was the only surviving daughter of a ranching family with 7 brothers; she was continuously having to be out of school to help feed a large working family and ranch hands who tended and worked the familys sheep and goat herds. She finally left school completely to take care of her ailing mother. Both of her parents and her only sister passed away before she married Eloy Torrez of Hondo at St. John Parish in Roswell in 1936.

They lived in the Hondo Valley where Eloy was a fruit farmer, school bus driver, and logging company worker, and Savina was a homemaker. They had 12 children, 11 of whom are still living. They were both active in the community, and Savina was involved in church and school activities. She promoted education for their children, and the large majority have advanced college degrees in areas such as accounting, business, engineering, law, nursing, and education. Savina was extremely proud of her children and their families.

Savina was the last of a great generation of Salcidos, loved not only by her children and their families, but also by her nieces and nephews and their families. She will be remembered for her loving, caring ways; for her constant prayers for others rather than herself; for her visitations to family, the sick, and the elderly; and for her deep and trusting faith in God. She was a very social person and loved to be around people whether it was at weddings, church socials, or family gatherings and parties . She leaves a legacy of humility, selflessness, deep faith in Our Lord, a positive outlook on life, and a wonderful sense of humor. Her trademark was her hearty laugh which was contagious. As a young lady she enjoyed dancing, horseback riding all over her beloved Hondo Valley, and having gatherings at her Hondo House where she and her friends played guitars and fiddles , danced , and recited versos and dichos. After moving to Roswell, she enjoyed going to the Joy Center, crocheting for everyone, visiting the sick and shut-ins, praying, walking to daily mass, and making tortillas for her grandchildren. Into her nineties, she was still the center of family gatherings, joining in the dancing, Easter egg hunts, and Halloween costume parties. At the age of 95 in 2004, she was selected the senior fiesta queen of the annual San Juan Fiesta. She was also selected Person of the Week by the Roswell Daily Record, and the Roswell Hispano Chamber chose her and husband Eloy as the Don and Dona of the annual PinataFest celebration. She recently celebrated her 100th birthday with a weekend of family events and a large gathering of friends and family.
P styleLINE-HEIGHT: normal;

Visitation

Ballard Funeral Home
910 S. Main
Roswell, NM  88203
Thursday, November 12, 2009
9:30 a.m.

Service

Rosary

St. Johns Catholic Church
506 S. Lincoln
Roswell, NM  88203
Friday, November 13, 2009
7:00 p.m.

Rosary

St. Judes Catholic Church
San Patricio
San Patricio, NM  88301
Saturday, November 14, 2009
10:00 a.m.

Cemetery

Hondo Cemetery
Hondo, NM  88301