Lorenzo L. Navarro

Lorenzo L. Navarro was born to Longino and Crusita (Sandoval) Navarro on August 10, 1936 in Delta, CO. He was the youngest of four children including Julio, Pauline, and Valentina (Alice). When he was 11-years-old, Lorenzo and his family were in a car accident that killed his then-pregnant mother, her unborn child, and left Lorenzo in a coma for several weeks with severe injuries. Once he recovered, Lorenzo began working to help his father financially care for their family, moving to several towns until eventually moving to Wattenburg around 1955.

He traveled the country and worked many different jobs over the years. In his lifetime, he traveled to Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, and Canada, and never went more than a week without employment until he retired. He loved telling stories about the jobs he held including herding sheep, working on the railroad, working in a chocolate factory, working at the Sugar Factory during beet harvest, supervising at various construction sites including the construction of the Eisenhower Tunnel, and many others. He retired from the Pepcol meat packing company in 1994.

In 1955, he met Susie Espinosa and became an immediate father to Anthony, Niko, Jane and Lena. Together with Susie, they had five more children—Jesse, Theresa, Debbie, Carol, and Maria. Lorenzo was a hard worker and in 1976 he purchased his first home where he lived until 2018 when he suffered a fall that left him unable to use the stairs. He then went to live with his daughter, Theresa, where he remained until his death. Lorenzo fought many health difficulties in his later years and ultimately lost his battle with severe lung issues on February 5, 2021. His last request was to be at home with family at his side. 

He loved to hunt and fish and often spoke about how much he missed wearing his cowboy boots. He liked to watch Western movies, which he referred to as “My Cowboys,” and novellas, which he called “My Stories.” He always looked forward to “going up to the hills”—Blackhawk and Central City—to play the slot machines and try to hit it big (which he did a few times). When he was no longer able to visit the casinos, he continued to try his luck with lottery scratchers at home.

When he lived in his house, he was a mainstay in his neighborhood. His neighbors could always count on seeing him sitting outside and they would frequently bring him ice cream or just stop to visit for a while. He even became so friendly with the men who mowed his neighbor’s lawn that eventually they started mowing his lawn for free. He was always busy doing things outside, constructing small projects, and loved to just visit with people.  Lorenzo never hesitated to open his home to anyone in his family. His daughter, Theresa and her family, his granddaughter, Jenny, his grandson, Jeremy and his great-nephew, Jorge, all spent time living with him over the years. He would go at a moment’s notice to Grand Junction to help his sister, Pauline, whenever she needed him. Eventually, he even moved her to Brighton to live with him and took care of her for six years before she moved to assisted living.

Lorenzo is survived by his sons, Anthony (Mary Ann) Espinosa of Brighton, Nick Huereña of Vancouver, WA, Jesse (Linda) Navarro of Westminster; son-in-law, Tom Dimino of Highlands Ranch; daughters Jane (Nick) Sena of Arvada, Theresa Garcia of Brighton, Debbie (Larry) Tafoya of Brighton, Maria (Manuel) Salazar of Brighton, and sister, Pauline Martinez of Brighton. He is also survived by 24 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren and 11 great, great-grandchildren. His youngest great-grandchild is his tocayo (his namesake) - Alonzo Lorenzo. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Alice Maestes; his brother, Julio Navarro; wife, Susie; two daughters, Carol Navarro and Lena Dimino; great-grandson, Joshua Mayer; daughter-in-law, Rosalie Huereña; and son-in-law, Mike Garcia.  

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