WELLINGTON, Colo.-
When Belen Luna crossed the Mexican border with his brothers to seek work, Woodrow Wilson was president.
On Saturday, 90 years later and on the day Mexico celebrates the Cinco de Mayo holiday, Luna celebrated his 104th birthday.
He is still in the country on an immigrant work visa, and receives a pension from the Union Pacific Railroad, said his daughter, Belen A. Luna, 63, on Saturday.
“He didn’t speak any English or go to much school. He taught himself how to read, write and speak English,” she told the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
Born in Chihuahua, he crossed the Texas border at age 13. “I never went back to Mexico,” he told the newspaper Friday.
He married and the couple had 11 children, 29 grandchildren, 45 great grandchildren, nine great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchildren. His wife, Rosa, died in 1983.
“My mother always told me that after I was born he was the happiest man; he just went crazy,” Belen A. Luna said. “They had about five boys before me, so he was so happy to have a girl.” Belen’s mother named her for her father but added the middle initial.
Luna, who has hearing and vision problems, still likes to watch wrestling on TV. Otherwise his health has been good except for a mild heart attack that wasn’t even noticed until a doctor’s visit after it happened.
“He had a minor heart attack, but none of us even knew it,” she said. “He acted normal but when we took him to the doctor, sure enough, he suffered from a mild heart attack.”
“He lived a good, honest life,” Belen A. Luna said. “I learned respect, honesty and to stay out of trouble from him.”
