Tom Salazar passed away from this earth…quietly… on the evening of Oct. 6 at Togus Veteran’s Hospital in Augusta, with friends and family nearby, after several years of declining health, though with a spirit that remained strong to his last moments with us.
Tom was born in the ancient town of Quitovac, Sonora Mexico on May 13, 1936. He was the son of Manuela Velasco Salazar, and a proud member of the tribe, Tohono O’odham, Coyote Clan, “The Desert People.” His birthplace was once home to the annual rain festival held in June. He lived his early years in Picacho, Ariz. in the Sonoran Desert. He worked the fields alongside family members and there began his love of the Earth Spirit.
Tom worked at many things in his lifetime. One of his most rewarding endeavors was his eight-year service in the Army Infantry, from 1955 to 1963, where, while stationed in Germany, he distinguished himself as an expert and accomplished marksman.
After his service he remained an active member of the Honor Guard with the Ira Hayes American Legion in Sacaton, Ariz. Other areas where he ‘made his mark’ were as a construction worker, a meat-cutter, a gardener and groundskeeper, a security guard, a driver, and later in life worked for eight years at Harvest Time Natural Foods in Augusta, where he was famously known for his ‘authentic’ handmade tortillas and bean burritos.
Tom was also recognized and highly praised for his artistry in jewelry making, with exquisite designs of color and symbolism and for his tender drawings of his home, capturing the essence of the desert, and his most beloved Picacho Peak. He taught these crafts and other aspects of Native American culture at the Whitefield Elementary School in Whitefield and at Cony High School in Augusta.
Tom struggled off and on through the years with his use of alcohol. While a difficult challenge, his very weakness became his strength. It was during the last of these years that he moved to Maine to be near his sons, who had relocated from Texas to southern Maine, and came to meet a group of people who would be lifelong and cherished friends. With the help of supportive friends and family he was able to realize victory over alcohol and through this victory he came to know and subsequently marry Linda Dugan. They moved to Eloy, Ariz., where they shared 14 happy years together.
Tom is survived by his children: sons, Thomas, Steven and wife Jessica and their two children, Eli and Wesley, and Michael and daughter Marylou and her children; daughter, Eva Jane; cousins, Milliano and Clemensia Velasco and Ofelia Zepeda, the renowned University of Arizona poet and teacher of the culture of Tohono O’odham. In addition, he leaves behind many loved nieces and nephews of the Salazar, Zepeda and Velasco families, and many friends, whose hearts he captured.
Tom died the way he lived, full of a strong and utterly unstoppable spirit, and when it pours in the desert, Tom will be there.
