Obituary of Maria Arminda Saldivar Leal

Maria Arminda Saldivar-Leal passed away in Othello, Saturday June 13, 2015 surrounded by her loving family. Arminda was born November 2, 1925 in San Benito, Texas to Guadalupe Leal and Maria Teran. Arminda married Tiberio Saldivar Peña November 23, 1940 in Santander Jimenez, Tamaulipas, Mexico. They farmed and raised their family in Mexico where Arminda was sought after to deliver babies for the women in their farming community. After moving to Othello in 1967 Arminda worked at L&B – Franklin Potato Growers - Carnation Foods until her retirement in 1987. Later she could often be seen with her husband selling goods at flea markets and farmer's markets in Othello and Pasco. She was a fantastic cook in fact so good she started marketing her own tamales and tortillas. She would get calls from all over the area from individuals to company's wanting her products. In 1990 Tiberio and Arminda celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at St. Paul's Church, in Eltopia, WA with a large crowd of friends and relatives from throughout the Columbia Basin. One of the things she most looked forward to following the death of her husband in 1998 was going on casino runs with her daughter Mayra. She loved discovering Indian Casinos and was really excited when she discovered a place called Las Vegas. It didn't matter whether or not she was winning, she always had a big smile when playing the slots. In addition to finding new casinos, she was also quit the traveler for a woman her age. She took a road trip from Yakima to Mexico and stopped at just about every state along the way. She loved seeing family in Texas and California and even was excited to see one of her grandsons get married in Hawaii. She even found out there really was a mickey mouse in a place called Disney Land. Last but not least she was able to make two final road trips with her daughters Rosa, Chela, and Mayra to visit her brother Gume for his 95th birthday in Texas in January and her sister Lucy in California in March. Family was a huge part of Arminda’s life and she was surrounded by many of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren when she passed. She always had a great time enjoying family celebrations, holidays, and weddings. She loved to watch her family enjoy life and have fun. That always made her smile... as did Mexican Bingo. She was preceded in death by her loving husband Tiberio, January 5, 1998 and her infant daughter Englantina, two grandchildren, Norma Ortiz and Eric Palomo and one great grandson, Eric Palomo Jr. She is survived by her sister Lucila Leal Teran of Bakersfield, Califomia and her brother Vicente Leal of Jimenez, Tamaulipas, Mexico. She is also survived by her children Olivia Chavez (Napoleon), Rosa Martinez (David) and Tiberio Saldivar Jr. (Leti) all of Othello, WA, Minerva Saldivar and Armando Saldivar (Sylvia) of Mercedes, Texas, Mayra Saldivar-Taylor (Keith) of Yakima, Hilda Shepard (Gerry) of Phoenix, Arizona, Criselda (Chela) Villa-Saldivar of Pasco, Abelardo Saldivar (Peter) of Manhattan Beach, California and her adopted son Pedro (Herrera) Saldivar of Reynosa, Mexico; 3 1 grandchildren and 51 great grandchildren. We all love and will miss you very much and will never forget your wonderful smile that lit up the room. A visitation will be held from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Friday, June 19, 2015, at Stevens Funeral Chapel, in Othello Washington. Funeral arrangements will begin at 9:30 am, Saturday, June 20, 2015, at Stevens Funeral Chapel. The graveside service will be held at 11:00 am, at Bess Hampton Memorial Gardens, in Othello Washington. To leave an online condolence to the family, please visit our website at www.stevensfc.com.