Frank Palacio Sr.

Frank Palacio, Sr. was a selfless family man and a passionate nurseryman who left this world on August 6th, a week short of his 75th birthday, after a valiant battle with cancer. Our dad was surrounded by his family as he left this world to be with the Lord. Born to Ramon and Ann Palacio in the coal mining camp of Morley, Colorado; he was the youngest of 11 children. Our dad graduated from Trinidad High School, where he met our mom, Shirley Cordova, who was the love of his life. Daddy then served in the Navy Reserves and spent two years at the naval station on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. Our parents had five children, all of whom were raised in Pueblo, and daddy spent 19 years in the Wire Mill at the CF&I in Pueblo. Always the entrepreneur, he sold trees to area landscapers on the side to support his growing family. Through hard work and dedication, that side-job grew into one of Southern Colorado’s most successful nurseries. Our parents’ hard work helped to supply trees and plants to parks, businesses, and homes across the city. While daddy’s first legacy is his family, his second will be shade from the thousands of trees that he provided throughout the region. Our dad loved Colorado’s outdoors, where our parents spent many nights camping, and many days simply “going for a ride.” He also was a skilled carpenter; he built two of his homes and helped his children build homes of their own. Daddy was a great guitarist, and in his younger years he loved to serenade us with his beautiful baritone voice. Our dad was honorable and old-fashioned, and expected others to be the same. Cursing was bad-mannered, and disrespecting women was even worse. He had no patience for R-Rated movies, but he thoroughly enjoyed old Western films and old time Country Music. He was also, proudly, the undefeated arm-wrestling champion of our family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ramon and Ann, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, John and Josephine Cordova, his brothers Raymond and Henry, and sisters, Adeline, and Maryann. Frank is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Shirley, his children Frank Palacio, Tammy Palacio, Julie Palacio, Rick Palacio (Graham Kaltenbach), and Lisa (Randall) Padilla, his grandchildren Savannah, Gabrielle, Anthony, Michael, Daniel, Allie, Brody, Isaac, Breah, and Johnny, and his great grandchildren, Isaiah, Shayna, Kiana, Andrew, Jayda, Noah, and Daniel. He is also survived by his big brothers Sam (Madlyn) Palacio of Longmont, Bobby Palacio of Chowchilla, California, and big sisters Josephine Bralish, Carol (Larry) Santoyo of Denver, Caroline Garcia of Pueblo and Gloria (Chuck) Guillin of Colorado City, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and countless friends, including his faithful dog of 14 years, Maddie. Our daddy will be greatly missed by all of us, forever. Funeral Service will be 10:30am, Saturday, August 13, 2022 at St. Paul the Apostle in Pueblo West followed by interment at Roselawn Cemetery. Online condolences can be made at roselawnpueblo.org.

Frank Palacio Sr.

August 6, 2022