Ernesto Erasto Atencio

Ernesto E. Atencio passed from this life in Albuquerque on Saturday, March 12, with family at his side. He was born in 1935 in the village of El Puerto del Embudo de Nuestro Señor San Antonio, now known as Dixon, New Mexico. Ernesto grew up there at a time when Norteño villages were still very isolated from mainstream society and a world unto themselves. He spent much of his childhood traveling to those villages with his father, Rev. Tomás Atencio, a Presbyterian pastor who ministered throughout the area. Ernesto's mother, Bernardita (Roybal) Atencio, was descended from one of the first Spanish families to settle in New Mexico in 1598 and came from Llano San Juan, just upstream from Dixon. He had two older adopted sisters from his father, Hilaria and Andrea Atencio, and two half siblings from his mother, Bernardita and Octaviano Mascareñas, as well as two brothers from Rev. and Mrs. Atencio, Tomás and Amos. Soon after graduating from Menaul High School in Albuquerque in 1955, Ernesto married his high school sweetheart, Anna Belle (Christian) Atencio and started a family of four children, Ernest Jr., David, Shirley, and Sylvia. In 1962, he moved his young family to Denver seeking better opportunities and made Denver his home for the next 43 years. Times were sometimes tough, but he always worked hard to support his family. Never far from his roots, Ernesto joined communities of other Norteños in Denver at the Spanish-speaking Bethel Presbyterian Church and the Denver Menaul Alumni Association. He served in leadership roles at both and was a proud member of the National Hispanic/Latino Presbyterian Caucus, through which he traveled the U.S. and abroad. After retiring, Ernesto finally realized his dream to follow in his father's footsteps when he and Anna became Commissioned Lay Pastors. They founded El Divino Salvador, a Spanish-speaking ministry at Aurora First Presbyterian Church, which is still thriving. Soon after, they had an opportunity to return to the home village of Dixon and did not hesitate. Ernesto lived possibly the best years of his life back in Dixon, irrigating from the local acequia and maintaining a small orchard, working as Pastor of El Rito Presbyterian Church in Chacon, NM, and slipping back into the community as if he'd never left. Ernesto tragically lost his son, David, before his time and then his beloved Anna, wife, companion, and life partner of nearly 60 years. He is known with great affection as "Papa" by his children, seven grandchildren, six surviving great-grandchildren, and those who married into the family. He was adored by a large extended family for his playful nature and love for goofy pet names. He will be missed by his family and the extensive community whose lives he touched. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the church his father founded: Embudo Presbyterian Church, PO Box 58, Dixon, NM 87527.