Elia Salazar

Elia Salazar Mendez was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico on October 29, 1931 and she went to her eternal home on Monday, April 1, 2024. She went peacefully at Country Garden Senior Care with her daughter Elaina Vaughan at her side.

A Loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, she always cared deeply and gave generously to her family and her friends.

Elia studied cosmetology and pattern making in Tampico, Mexico and she loved creating beautiful dresses, tole and water color paintings, and wood carvings. She mastered cake decorating and even made her own clay pot piñatas decorated in floral and animal designs. She learned upholstery and upholstered many of her own pieces of furniture. She also loved photography and documenting family events for posterity. Her attention to detail and keen eye led her to a career in Quality Control, as she worked for Applied Magnetics for 27 years as a QA Inspector. She made many lifelong friends working at AMC.

Elia instilled a passionate love of learning, a love of music and beauty and a generous spirit in all her children and they, in turn, passed it on to her grandchildren and great- grandchildren.

Her husband, Alfonso Salazar Castro, and his good friend, Humberto Salmeron, founded Club Amigos Latinos in the 70’s. Elia loved the longstanding friendships that were formed in the club, as the unifying threads were the Spanish language, all coming from Latin countries, and the love of good food, music and learning about their unique cultures. She and her husband traveled extensively with their friends from the club.

Elia is survived by her 4 children and their spouses: Blanca (Star) and Jim Bolton, Miguel and Terri Salazar, Jorge and Patricia Salazar, and Elaina and Stewart Vaughan. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and their 6 spouses and 8 great-grandchildren. She also has her sister, Sara Covarrubias of Queretaro Mexico, and her family.

There will be a viewing at Welch Ryce on Sola Street on Wednesday, April 17 from 9 to 4. Her funeral mass will be on Thursday, April 18 at Saint Rafael’s Church at 10 am, with the burial at Calvary Cemetery after the mass.

Her family wishes to thank Cecilia De Monte Verde and all her staff at Country Garden Senior Care for the loving care you gave our Mamacita and for going the extra mile by giving her amazing birthday celebrations!