Tim Santos, often referred to in Pueblo as the “gentleman cop,” died Nov. 13 at a nursing facility in Cañon City.
Santos, who was 71, had been seriously ill since he suffered bleeding in his brain in 2000, said his wife, Angie.
He had two brain surgeries, she said, but was left severely brain-damaged, unable to take care of himself and remembering little of his life or family.
He became ill just two months before retirement, after 32 years on the Pueblo Police Department.
Santos was described by friends as “the policeman who didn’t have an attitude,” said his wife.
“He was kind and compassionate and slow to anger,” said Police Chief Jim Billings.
“Tim wasn’t ever heavy- handed,” said Billings. “He preferred to resolve a situation with a warning rather than a ticket or a reconciliation rather than a battle. He was good public relations for the department.”
Santos once told a woman who had driven her car into a tree not to worry about a ticket “because you didn’t hurt the tree.”
Other times, he told first- time teenage drinkers to dump the beer and promise not to drink again, rather than charging them.
If someone were speeding just a few miles over the limit, Santos wouldn’t ticket the person, said his cousin, Tom Santos, a retired firefighter.
“He was just a really nice guy who liked people,” said David Santos, an uncle and himself a retired policeman.
In his eulogy, Dennis John son, a longtime friend, said Santos had simple tastes: He habitually ate bologna sandwiches, potato chips and a Pepsi, and had an apple for a snack. But he also loved passkeys, a hot Italian sandwich well known to Puebloans.
He loved playing and watching sports and stopped at every quarter machine in Las Vegas.
Devoted to his grandchildren, nieces and nephews, Santos was always in a hurry to start an outing with them, usually yelling: “Hurry up. You’re burning daylight!”
Eutimio Santos, known also as “Saints,” was born Sept. 4, 1935, in Pueblo and graduated from Pueblo Central High School. After serving in the Army, he worked at the CF&I steel mills for 16 years.
Then he decided to be a cop. “He loved his job,” said Angie Santos.
He met Angie Trujillo on a blind date and within six months gave her a ring. She wasn’t sure they knew each other well enough, but he said, “You’re gonna learn to love me, and you’re gonna like it.”
Her one requirement before agreeing to marry him was that he learn to dance, which he did. They wed Dec. 2, 1961.
In addition to her, he is survived by their daughter, Kim DeSimone of Devon, Pa.; three grandchildren; and his sister, Rita Santos of Pueblo.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
