Obituary
Written by his family
Salatiel “Sala” or “Chimos” Solano, 67, of Hendersonville, NC went to be with our Heavenly Father on July 6th, 2023. He was born on November 27th, 1955 to Ponciano Solano Uribe and Acencion Gonzalez in Joquicingo, Mexico.
He immigrated from Mexico and became a United States citizen in 2005; after many years of hard work and travel, his family joined him in settling down in Hendersonville, NC after discovering his love for the mountains.
Sala was an exemplary son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend. He married Bertha Aguilar on July 1, 1974. He had 5 siblings, 6 children, 12 grandchildren, and was the great-grandfather of 1 (with another on the way). If you know any of his family members, you know that he was absolutely adored and loved. He truly enjoyed making other people laugh and was always there to support those he loved.
Sala loved staying active and even after retirement, he became passionate about working as an automotive mechanic with his son-in-law at Precision Motor Works. Any free time he had, he spent working on his cars, tending to his home garden and dedicated to his wife.
He loved learning, snacking, catching up with old buddies, and worshiping God. You could always find him spending the weekend at Grace Lutheran Church and at Smiley’s Flea Market. Sala undoubtedly loved laughing and making memories with all his family. In his younger days, he was a boxer. He was always known for caring more about others than himself.
Sala was diagnosed with a rare aggressive form of thyroid cancer known as anaplastic carcinoma that spread to his trachea, ultimately requiring the need for a very invasive surgery to remove his tumor. Unfortunately, he succumbed to multiple complications during his postoperative hospital stay.
He joins his parents: Ponciano and Acension, grandparents: Lola and Adeliado, in-laws: Pepe and Maria Elena, sister-in-law: Nena, older brother: Leonel, his eldest son: Abraham, and his daughter-in-law: Ana.
Salatiel is survived by his wife, Bertha; his children: Rut, Jenny, Josue, Israel/“Lobo”, and Nahun; his siblings Acela/“Lydia”, Eliel, Daniel, Gamaliel; his son-in-laws Rafael and Javier; his grandchildren: Jose-Isai, Sharon, Michelle, Josue Jr, Jennifer, Nicole, Kathy, Abraham Jr, Natalie, Cynthia, Jazlynn, and Jordan; his great-grandchildren, Isaias and Ellie (expected later this year) and many more loved ones.
A visitation will take place from 3 to 4pm at Shuler Funeral Home on July 10th, 2023. Salatiel’s memorial and other arrangements will be announced at a later date.
Sermon
By Rev. Christina Auch
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Christ our Savior.
Are there more beloved or recognizable words than those of the 23rd Psalm? The late Presbyterian minister and theologian, Frederick Buechner, used to tell the story of a man he once knew who kept sheep. The man gave some of them names while others never were named. Either way, he knew them equally well. If one of them got lost, he didn't have a moment's peace until he found it again. If one of them got sick or hurt, he moved Heaven and Earth to get it well again. He fed them out of a bottle when they were newborn lambs if for some reason the mother wasn't around or wouldn't 'own' them, as he put it.
Buechner remembered this fellow wading through snow up to his knees with a bale of hay in each hand to feed his flock on bitter cold winter evenings. He’d seen him in the barn with a forty-watt bulb hanging down from the low ceiling to light up their greedy, foolish, half holy faces as they pushed and butted each other to get at the hay."[i] "Sheep just don't take care of themselves; their fears and timidity and their stubbornness make them restless and anxious."[ii] They must be shepherded.
The Twenty-Third Psalm tells an old, old story that comforts us with familiar words, but more importantly, reminds us that we know who God is and how we are called to trust in the promises God gives us.
Today we gather to honor and remember Salatiel confident that he is in God’s care and keeping now, that he is healed from illness and freed from suffering.
The Psalmist begins The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not be in want. This bold statement is not a question, or even a petition - something we are asking God for. It is a declaration as plain as "Salatiel loved his family." It is simply a fact, witnessed by all of us who had the joy of knowing him. The Lord knew Salatiel, not because he was devoted to Bertha and the family they have raised, or because he worked hard or loved well. He was and he did. But the Lord knew Salatiel's name and his face because he was a child of God, just as each one of us is one of God's children.
The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures... The Psalmist says, “Rest, be quiet.” We are not only called, but actually commanded to rest in God’s presence. Our shepherd leads us to places where we will be nourished and cared for. Where we can step away from work and simply be the beloved person God created.
The Psalmist continues, The Lord leads me beside still waters
And restores my soul, telling us that the Shepherd leads us through rough terrain, across mountains and valleys, the Psalmist assures us that the Shepherd knows our needs and finds us protected sanctuaries -
restorative places - where we can drink deeply and rest, freed from danger. One of the stories I have heard again and again was how Salatiel brought his grandchildren to church when they were small. He knew that the church is a place where we find rest and renewal for our souls, and he knew the importance of being planted in a faith community.
The Lord guides me along right pathways though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil; for the Lord is with me. Hearing these verses, a preacher from the turn of the last century, a man named Henry Ward Beecher called this psalm the “nightingale of the Psalms because it sings sweetest when the night is darkest.[iii]
In the midst of our grief for Salatiel’s death and absence, the Psalmist says to stop and be still, and “hearing the nightingale singing in the darkness", be assured of God's presence. Life has a way of squeezing the spirit of a person, and the struggles and challenges we face can leave us exhausted. God doesn't promise us effortless life but instead, promises us strength and God's steadfast presence.
When Salatiel was in the hospital, I had the privilege of witnessing how these verses were embodied by Bertha and your family. Despite long days and a lot of uncertainty, you trusted the assurance we hear in these verses -
that "God is the shepherd who guides, the Lord who provides, the voice who brings peace in the storm..."[iv]
Lord, your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table for me.You anoint my head with oil... my cup is running over. Our comfort isn't found only in the promises written on our hearts. These verses help us hear how God provides for us right here and now in our very real and hurting world. The rod isn't a ruler that a teacher used to rap your knuckles or a bough from the willow tree that you saw come out when you got in trouble. It was what a shepherd carried to protect his flock from predators. The crook wasn't simply a walking stick; it could be used to rescue a sheep if it stumbled on the paths of the rocky hills and uneven pastures. God knows our needs, our gifts, ours strengths and our abilities, and invites us into life with each other so that, we are not alone and helpless against the world. When, in our human condition – in our brokenness, we suffer hurt or fear, or, like the sheep, we butt heads with people in our lives, God calls us back, applies a salve to our wounds and
heals our broken hearts, giving us all we need.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The Psalmist's conclusion is our final reminder today, that our lives are gifts to us from our Creator and Lord. More than that, God shares God’s abundance with us, giving God's own self to us, to be our Savior and our Lord and our Shepherd to bring us home. As boldly as he began, the Psalmist proclaims again what we know about God- that at the close of the day, we can be assured that, following Jesus, we too will go home because "there is a Shepherd who knows his sheep one by one, who is abundantly able to provide, who guides and protects and at the close of the day opens the door to the sheepfold.”[v]
So, this old, old story gives us good news today. We are reminded in the midst of our loss and grief that we are not lost. And while he is no longer with us here, Salatiel is not lost. Confident in God's promises to us, we know we have a shepherd Jesus who brings us home, to live eternally in the loving God. The Christian faith teaches us that because Christ died and was raised we too shall live again. Therefore, we celebrate not only Salatiel's life on earth but also his new life to come in the House of the Lord forever!
Amen.
[i] Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life. Harper, San Francisco, 1992.
[ii] Phillip Keller, A Shepherd's Look at Psalm 23. Harper, New York, 1970. 7, 23-27.
[iii] Charles Allen, Psalm Twenty-Three, An Interpretation. Revell, Westwood, 1956. 36.
[iv] Lucado, 52.
[v] Allen, 61.
Eulogy
By Rev. Dr. Alfredo Oviedo
The name Salatiel is mentioned 5 times in the Bible, in the Hebrew in the Old Testament and in the Greek in the New Testament. And this has been the reality of Salatiel Solano's life...given by God to us all and now returned to God who had given it.
When Salatiel and I talked, he always called me "brother" and I believe that this word has more importance than "pastor". I use the word "brother" to refer to Salatiel in this eulogy (or tribute)
Brother Salatiel was already in this community when we arrived in December 1992, and he welcomed us. His servant's vocation was evident when he offered to help us with anything we needed while we got established. so began a friendship and relationship of brothers that lasted a little more than 30 years.
As was common, first generation immigrants like Brother Salatiel came alone and worked day and night for enough savings to bring their families. Learning a new language, adapting to a new community, hard work, loneliness and the grace of God inclined Brother Salatiel to find refuge in the Christian faith and the brotherhood of the church.
Before his family, his wife and children, came little by little, Brother Salatiel lived with this brother Eliel, his son Abaraham, and nephews. Then on a pastoral visit, I had to eat tortillas and salsa handmade by the brothers Eliel and Salatiel who had cooked that afternoon. For Salatiel sharing hospitality and the blessings of God with others was natural.
Brother Salatiel had the dream of bringing all of his family, a process that lasted several years. I still remember the happiness on his face when his wife and younger children arrived in Hendersonville.
Like all immigrants, Brother Salatiel asked himself if it was worth the grief of leaving Mexico, his original country, and being separated temporarily from his family, and the arduos work every day and sometimes tolerating the impertinence and racism of some people in the community...his answer was always affirmative, that it was worth the grief.
Together we cry for the deaths of our children Abraham and Ana and in mourning, this question became even more painful and sharp (stabbing).
After the pandemic, Brother Salatiel together with his wife Bertha, his brother Eliel and sister-in-law Bricia, his granddaughter Michelle, and some of my family were the first to return to services in person....his sending after the Sunday services was always, "We'll see you next Sunday in worship or before, if God wants, brother."
Together with the faithful at Sunday services, they impressed me with an example to follow, his faith, strength, and perseverance in all trials. (Because of) The distance, loneliness and natural fatigue of hard work, he did sometimes drink without moderation, but he always stopped drinking, returned to work, and got up with new strength and determination in order to see his dreams made a reality.
He had dreams for his family. He always affirmed his primary responsibility was his wife, his children and extended family and he dedicated his life to them. Soon his grandchildren were growing up and they gave him a lot of satisfaction, love and care until he took his last breath. He celebrated with a smile all the graduations of his family, especially the college graduations of his three granddaughters, Sharon, Michelle and Jennifer.
The legacy of Brother Salatiel continues in the present, in all of us who know him and have the blessing of sharing life with him. Each one of us can ask what we can do to celebrate Salatiel's life and honor his memory. If someone needs help in this, behold, I leave you with some suggestions. As Brother Salatiel lived his life, we dedicate our lives to God as Salatiel did, serving the church and serving our community, dedicated to our family and honorable work, and being humble and helping the needy.
Thank you and God bless you.