The community of Fort Lupton is rallying around a family devastated by the loss of a mother and child.
Christine Prieto, 40, and her 9-year-old son, Salvador, known as Lil Sal, died from injuries they received in a Sunday-morning traffic crash near Dacono.
Students at Butler Elementary School remembered their fourth-grade classmate and friend Thursday morning at a memorial at the Fort Lupton High School football field where kids sang, read poems and recalled Lil Sal. Dozens of colorful balloons were released as part of the program, which included many members of the community.
“It was amazing,” said Bianca Prieto, Salvador’s sister and Christine’s stepdaughter. “The stands were full.”
Sal Prieto, Christine’s husband, is a small- business man who grew up in Weld County. Prieto has 13-year-old twin sons, Joseph and Julian, who are eighth-graders at Fort Lupton Middle School.
Christine Prieto worked for Hofgard Benefits in Boulder, where she sold health insurance, and was extremely involved in her boys’ activities.
“Her boys and my dad were her priority,” Bianca Prieto said.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Prieto Family Memorial Fund, c/o Bank of Colorado, 111 S. Raleigh Ave., Fort Lupton, CO 80621.
Kieran Nicholson, The Denver Post
