Prisiliano Sandoval

On Friday, December 8, 2023, Presiliano Sandoval passed away peacefully at his home in Truchas, NM, where he was born on January 21, 1925, at the home of his parents, Pablita and Apolinar, a mere 400 yards away from his home where he lived much of his nearly 99 years. Pres attended school in Truchas and Española, and, like his mother, he was a life-long advocate of the importance of education. During World War II, his older brother, Benigno, was lost at Guadalcanal, and Pres himself served in the Army.

Pres attended Regis College in Denver, but gave up his dream of becoming an accountant to return home to drive the school bus so his younger siblings could go to school in the Valley. Pres drove the school bus for the Española Public Schools for almost two decades and later managed the main warehouse for Los Alamos Public Schools until his retirement in 1989.

Throughout his life, Pres irrigated and hoed unending fields of corn and beans, dug countless post holes, strung miles of barbed wire fencing; he cut, split, and stacked endless cords of leña. He harvested zillions of acres of hay, initially cut by hand or horse drawn sickle and later modernizing to using a tractor, swather, and baler. There were always cattle and sometimes horses, pigs, and chickens around the farm.

Pres deeply loved his family, and was known as “Grampa Pres” to many. A grin always greeted little visitors when they arrived. He taught generations how to clean regaderas, maintain las acequias, split wood, and stack bales. He loved to sing and dance, and enjoyed an occasional respite of fishing or camping in the mountains.

Though he did it quietly, many knew Pres as a person of faith, prayer, and service to the church, ministering in multiple capacities, among them mayordomo, sacristan, eucharistic minister, usher, and music leader.

Pres was a true Trucheño, always there if you needed help sweeping snow, if your cows got away, you were stuck in a ditch or needed a tow, you needed leña, or home repairs. He was there if you needed a hand with farm chores, a meal to eat, had a flat tire, or were lost “on the way to Taos.” He was precise in his work and planning, his motto: “If you are going to do something, do it right.”

As one of our family declared, “He was the happiest, friendliest, warmest, most helpful, inclusive and accepting man.” Many will miss him.

Pres spent the last 25 years of his life with his beloved wife Joanne, who selflessly cared for him in his final years.

Presiliano is predeceased by his son Louis; parents, Pablita and Apolinar Sandoval; sisters Celsa, Mathilda, and Sister Rosina; brothers Benigno, Elizario, and Adelaido.

He is survived by his wife, Joanne Dupont Sandoval; children: daughter Jessica, son Anthony and wife Mary, son Peter and wife Cindy, daughter Joyce, son Louis’s wife Nancy, and son Jeffrey; 20 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and 7 great-great grandchildren; the mother of his children, Dora Nelson; sisters Amelia, Lorraine, Rosalie, and Fabie; and brother Jose Domingo; as well as innumerable relatives and friends.

Rosary will be prayed for Presiliano on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, at DeVargas Funeral Home in Española, NM. Public visitation will be at 6:30 pm, the rosary at 7:00 pm. Funeral mass will be on Thursday, December 21, 2023, at Holy Family Parish Church in Chimayo, NM, at 10:00 am. Burial will follow at Los Llanitos Cemetery in Truchas.

For donations in Presiliano’s name, please consider Holy Family Parish, Chimayo, or Nuestra Señora del Rosario Foundation, Truchas.

The family of Prisiliano Sandoval has entrusted the care of their loved one to DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the beautiful Espanola Valley. www.devargasfuneral.com 505-747-7477