Della Gallegos

SAN PEDRO — Della Gallegos, 100, of San Pedro, Colorado, passed away in Westminster, Colorado on January 13, 2021.

Della was born in Folsom, New Mexico, to Esequiel and Sara Salaz.  She was Postmaster in San Pablo for forty-four years.  She also ran her grocery store – Alta Vista Grocery – until she was in her late 80s. She is survived by her daughter Margaret (Margie) Johnson, four grandchildren: Jerry Duran (Carol), Debi Duran-de Cisneros (Alejandro); Lorenzo Pacheco and Ana Sarmiento (Nick); nine great-grandchildren: Sara, Ryan, Victoria, Marisa, Antonio, Olivia, Eliana, Daniel and Xavier; two great-great-grandchildren: Bentley and Sophia; nephew, Ernest Salaz and niece, Lynda Lee Salaz from Delaware, and son-in-law, Richard Pacheco. Della was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur; her daughter, Marie; her parents, Esequiel and Sara Salaz and her brother, Ernest Salaz. In her early 90s, when she saw that Sts. Peter and Paul Church, San Pedro, Colorado, was in dire need of repairs, she took it upon herself to fundraise and obtain a grant for these much-needed repairs.  Not only fundraising, but she was also at the church on a daily basis, along with two friends, working side-by-side with the carpenter. When that project was completed, she took it upon herself to coordinate yet another major undertaking—she plotted out the San Pedro cemetery and identified graves that no longer had markers.  When she could no longer go out to work at the cemetery, she contacted a young man, and told him that it was now up to him to complete this major undertaking and she passed over the map she had plotted out along with all the names she could identify for those graves without markers.  In June 2019, she was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the Sangre de Cristo Parish in recognition for the many years of service as “caretaker” of the San Pedro Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Della’s name to Catholic Charities Samaritan House or Denver Rescue Mission: Catholic Charities Samaritan House, https://samhousedenver.org/donate/, Ph. (720) 742-0828, 6240 Smith Rd., Denver, CO 80216. Please make check payable to: Catholic Charities Samaritan House. Denver Rescue Mission, https://denverrescuemission.org/, Ph. (303) 297-1815, 6100 Smith Rd., Denver, CO 80216. Please make checks payable to: Denver Rescue Mission