Ruben Salinas

Ruben Salinas, 82, passed away Tuesday, March 5th, 2019 surrounded by his family. He was born January 8th, 1937 in Edinburg, Texas. After losing his father at a young age, he was forced to begin working at the age of 13 to help support his family. He would drive his mother, aunts and grandmother across the U.S. to different states such as Michigan, Wyoming, and Idaho for agricultural work. On weekends, he would reluctantly drive his mother and grandmother to flea markets and they would reward him with bananas and books. This is where he self-educated himself and became knowledgeable enough to challenge any educated family member in a game of Jeopardy. He met Teresa in 1955 and married in 1957. That year they migrated to Sunnyside, WA where he began working for Perrault Farms. They had their first daughter in 1960 and went on to raise their four children. He later worked as a truck driver for Arnold Martin Farms and retired 25 years later. He enjoyed fishing, playing cards and always winning; scratching his lottery tickets, playing his harmonica, and entertaining his grandkids and great-grandkids. He is survived by his wife of 62 years Teresa Salinas of Sunnyside; 4 children, Norma Trevino (Juan Carlos) of Grandview, Nora Cruz (Rosendo) of Sunnyside, Margarito Salinas (Linda) of Yakima, Ruben “Bo” Salinas Jr. of Sunnyside. Ruben also has 19 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, 1 sister Margarita Valenzuela of Stockton, CA and 2 brothers Roy Flores (Betty) of Naches, WA, and John Flores of Stockton, CA. He is preceded in death by his parents Margarito Salinas and Consuelo Flores. A Public Viewing will be held on Monday, March 11th at Valley Hills Funeral Home in Sunnyside at 9:00 am, funeral services will begin at 11:00 am, followed by graveside at Lower Valley Memorial Gardens. All are welcome to join us for a reception in honor of our dad at Valley Hills Funeral Home after graveside. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Ruben Salinas, please visit our flower store.