Ernest M. Luna

Ernest M. Luna,

82 years old, passed away on May 1, 2018 after a brief illness. He was born at his grandmother’s house on Rosario Boulevard in 1935 to Solomon and Adella (Ortiz) Luna. He lived his entire life in Santa Fe and Nambe, except for a short stint in Gallup during WWII.

Ernest was a caring brother, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, with a great interest in family history. He is survived by his son, Larry Luna, his wife Rachelle, and their daughters Lisa and Leigh; his granddaughter, Glynna Shamblin, her husband James, and their daughter Kiley; his daughter, Shannon Lewis, her husband Rick, Shannon’s children Jacqlyn and Justin Sievers with his wife Briana and their daughter Dakota. He is also survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Marguerite and Michael Milligan, as well as his brother, George Luna. His wife, Jeton Hendrix Luna and his son, Leroy Luna preceded him in death,

Ernest attended St. Michael’s as a boarder and graduated from Santa Fe High School in 1955. He studied at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and the College of Santa Fe. He had many memories of train and airplane trips to Cincinnati.

Ernest served with the New Mexico Army National Guard, in Air Defense Artillery (726 90mm AAA Gn Bn Company C) and ordinance units. He received an Honorable Discharge as a Sergeant in 1961.

He worked for the New Mexico State Highway Department for over 30 years, specializing in earth work and highway design. He enjoyed driving the interstate highways of New Mexico and pointing out the design challenges on the sections he engineered, for example the recently rebuilt I25 San Mateo exit in Albuquerque.

Ernest had a strong sense of community service and volunteered in many organizations. He was a member of the St. Vincent Hospital Auxiliary for 25 years, working in the gift shop. He was a board member of the College of Santa Fe Alumni Association, serving multiple terms as Treasurer and Secretary. He was active in the Masons and a member of the Montezuma Lodge. He was a 32nd degree member of Scottish Rite, and was also a member of Eastern Star, both the Santa Fe #19 and Turquoise #71 (Rio Rancho). He was a life member of the Santa Fe Elks Lodge, BPOE 460.

A memorial service will be held at the Kiva Chapel of the Rivera Family Funeral Home, at 417 E. Rodeo Rd. in Santa Fe, at 4 pm on Friday, May 25th. He will be buried next to his wife in Sayre, Oklahoma at the Sayre-Doxey Cemetery. Graveside services will be held on Tuesday, May 29th at 11 am. Donations may be made to honor the memory of Ernest Luna by giving to CHRISTUS St. Vincent Hospital through their Foundation. Gifts can be made on the Foundation website at: www.stvinfoundation.org by clicking on the purple ‘DONATE’ button and note Ernest Luna where it indicates ‘In Memory Of’.

Gifts can also be made to the hospital by mailing a check directly to the Foundation at: St. Vincent Hospital Foundation, 440 St. Michael’s Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87505. Please note on your check that your gift is in memory of Ernest Luna.