Silverio Saldana dropped out of school in the eighth grade to earn money for his family.
At age 68 he went to college and got a degree in Spanish and studied further at a university in Spain.
“He always said, ‘Get an education. No one can take that away from you,’ ” said daughter Cecilia Saldana of Pueblo. “He really pushed hard.”
Silverio Saldana died Jan. 31 at his Pueblo home after suffering from heart and lung problems for several years. He was 85.
Saldana had been vice president of the Latino Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the American GI Forum and the Pueblo Democratic Caucus. He was named the Latino Chamber’s outstanding member in 1985.
He made two unsuccessful runs for the Pueblo City Council.
Silverio Saldana was born in Pueblo on Oct. 1, 1923, and was reared on a farm in Bent County in southeastern Colorado. He dropped out of school to work on sugar-beet farms.
He joined the Army Air Corps near the end of World War II. Later he worked at the Pueblo Army Depot and had other jobs in Alaska — where he lived for 18 years — Greenland and Italy.
In Italy he worked on communications systems for the Army.
He married Hortencia Rodriguez in 1949. They had three children but eventually divorced.
He returned to Pueblo in 1972 and owned first Belmont Liquor Store and then the Dog Patch Liquor Store, retiring in 1990.
Dog Patch was Pueblo’s first drive-in liquor store, his daughter said.
Saldana went into rental properties after retiring from the liquor stores.
He was hoping to join Cecilia Saldana in opening a new restaurant, La Fonda, but the opening has been delayed.
He earned his bachelor’s degree at Colorado State University-Pueblo and studied for a semester at a university in La Mancha, Spain.
In addition to Cecilia Saldana, he is survived by two other daughters: Maria Saldana of Pueblo and Teresa Rodriguez of Boulder; a son, Pedro Saldana of the Detroit area; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
