Maria Salinas

Maria Trujillo Salinas, 90 years of age, passed away peacefully Saturday, October 20, 2018, in her Weslaco home and in the company of her children, and some of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who surrounded her as God touched her hand and welcomed her to her new home. Maria Salinas was born in a ranchito outside of Ocosingo Chiapas in Mexico on June 16, 1928, and she called Weslaco her hometown since the late 1940's. She lost her father Manuel and mother Emilia at a very young age and was raised by her grandmother Lucia Fidencia who she lovingly called Mama. Her life journey as a domestic worker in Mexico and Texas led her to the chance meeting of Jose Salinas who she would marry in 1951 and together raise five children. Mrs. Salinas worked for many prominent families in Reynosa and Weslaco and fondly recalled many of her work experiences especially with the Solether family with whom she enjoyed a special friendship. Although she had no formal classroom schooling, her children knew her as a highly intelligent woman well versed on a commonsense approach to life that served her children very well as they lived their own lives. Our Mother was a woman of very strong faith in God and she gifted that strength onto all of her family through her bendiciones she bestowed on us. Any time we departed from her presence we departed with a "que Dios te bengiga" or "primeramente Dios." A special occasion called for a bendicion. Known for her "green thumb", Mrs. Salinas was well known for her ability to nurture and grow anything. Her friends and sometimes complete strangers knew they could always approach her for a cutting or a seedling of any variety of tree, shrub or flower in her garden. She was always willing to share her love of nature forward with anyone. That was her life. Morning hours dedicated to tending to her garden was what made her happy. In her later years, her daughter Irma would have to work really hard to have her come back inside the house as the heat of the day climbed. Mrs. Salinas's passing was preceded by her parents Manuel and Emilia, her husband Jose who passed away May 2015 and her first grandchild Jose "Jo-Jo" Wbense Valdez in 1980 at the young age of four. She is survived by her children eldest daughter Irma (Weslaco), son Carlos (wife Vicki, Round Rock), daughter Alma (husband Uvense Valdez, Weslaco), Jose Alberto (wife Elida, Pharr) and Graciela (husband Rick Roberts, Castle Pines Colo), as well as grandchildren Ana Alicia Valdez Guajardo (husband Alberto), Vanessa Valdez Krause (husband Joey), Alberto Manuel, Aimee and JC Salinas, and Elliot, Brian and Jared Roberts, great-grandchildren Benjamin, Allison and Lucas Guajardo, Rose Maria and Evalyn Krause and Matthew, Scarlett, Harper, Ariana and Alberto Salinas. Visitation is set Tuesday, October 23, 2018, from 4 to 9 pm with a 7 pm Rosary at McCaleb Funeral Home in Weslaco, TX. A Funeral Mass is scheduled for Wednesday, 2 PM at St. Joan Of Arc followed by graveside services at Highland Park also in Weslaco. Pallbearers are her daughters, Irma, Alma and Graciela, sons Carlos and Jose Alberto, Elliott Roberts and Benjamin Guajardo.