Trinidad obituary honors miner, Guardsman, and lifelong St. Joseph’s member

Nasario F. Trujillo Jr. was remembered as the kind of man whose life moved through three institutions that shaped Las Animas County families for generations: the mine, the Guard and the church. He died April 11, 2026, at age 88, just days after his wife of 64 years, Ramos Trujillo, who died April 3.

Born Dec. 18, 1937, to Nasario Trujillo Sr. and Annie Aguilar Trujillo, Trujillo spent much of his working life in hard labor tied to the coalfields of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. He was a lifetime member of the United Mine Workers of America, worked 13 years for Butt Brothers, and retired after 32 years with Kaiser and York Canyon mine, one of the major Kaiser Steel operations in the Raton Basin. The mine was part of the region’s long coal history, and his work placed him inside a labor tradition that has run through Trinidad, Raton and the surrounding communities for more than a century.

His service extended beyond the shaft and the shop. Trujillo served nine years in the New Mexico National Guard, adding a military chapter to a life already defined by responsibility and physical work. That blend of labor and service reflected the kind of civic duty many families in the area recognize immediately, especially in a region where coal, military service and church life often overlapped within the same household.

Faith was another constant. Trujillo was a lifetime member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, linking him to the Trinidad Catholic community and its long parish tradition. St. Joseph Parish in Trinidad was created in 1951, and the Jesuits helped found both St. Joseph Parish and Mount Carmel Parish, part of the Catholic presence that has long anchored the city and surrounding area.

Trujillo is survived by his sons Gilbert of Denver, Frank of Trampas, Nick, Randy and James of Raton; grandchildren Danielle, Joelle, Frank Jr. and Steven Lee; great-granddaughter Nora Lopez; and siblings Ida Garcia of Raton, Berta Bruns of Moriarty, Lawrence of Raton and Tony of Fairfield, California. Funeral services were scheduled at Alderette-Pomeroy Mortuary, with a viewing April 16 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., a rosary April 17 at 11 a.m., and Mass at 11:30 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church, followed by burial at Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery. His life, and the close timing of Ramos’s death, marked the end of a marriage and a family chapter deeply rooted in the coal country of Raton and Trinidad.