Alberta Flores Salcido

Alberta Flores Salcido passed away peacefully in her home in Corona, California, on September 13, 2025, at the age of 89. Known affectionately as “Lily” to all who loved her, she lived a life of resilience, faith, and devotion to her family.

Born in 1936, she grew up in South Los Angeles as the youngest of fifteen children of Leonides and Amparo Flores. While attending Fremont High School, Lily founded and served as president of Las Orchedías (“The Orchids”), a girls’ club that sponsored school dances and community events while providing charitable services to those in need in the local community. In 1956, she received her California State Board Cosmetician Certification and worked for several years as a beautician and stylist in Huntington Park.

Lily married Reuben Martinez in 1958. In 1963, after beginning a family, they moved to West Covina, California, where they raised four children over the next twenty years. During this time, she was a devoted wife, mother, friend, and neighbor. She attended St. John the Baptist Church in Baldwin Park, where her children attended elementary school, and worked at various places, including Mattel, Queen of the Valley Hospital, and Doctor’s Hospital of West Covina. Though divorced in 1982, Lily and Reuben remained close friends through the end of her life.

In 1991, Lily remarried William Salcido, with whom she shared the next two decades of her life in West Covina.

Lily embodied the values of hard work and perseverance throughout her life, but she was best known for her unique sense of humor and down-to-earth spirit. She enjoyed reading, watching classic movies, and, from time to time, a cold beer. Her favorite time of year was Christmas, when she would decorate her home to the hilt and cook her beloved tamales for her family — a tradition that brought generations together around her table. She especially cherished time spent with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, finding her greatest happiness in their company. She is remembered for her enduring and deeply loving presence in the lives of her family and friends, whose lives have been profoundly touched by her passing. A devoted Catholic, she honored church traditions and, in her final days, found peace and comfort through faith. She was administered and duly received the Sacrament of Last Rites in the presence of family before passing.

Lily is survived by her children Cindy, Belinda, Stephen, and Frank Martinez; her grandchildren Marina, Christina, Tom, Maria, Frank, Stephen, Hannah, Samantha, and Curriea; her many great-grandchildren; her nieces and nephews; and her former husband, Reuben Martinez. She was preceded in death by all of her siblings, her mother and father, and her second husband, William Salcido.

Services will be held at the Church of Our Heritage, Forest Lawn – Covina Hills, with a Wake and Prayer Service on Thursday, October 9, 2025, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and a Funeral Mass on Friday, October 10, 2025, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., followed by interment at Forest Lawn – Radiance.

Her family extends heartfelt gratitude to all who join in remembering and celebrating Lily’s life.