Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Wife of Dania Beach vice mayor dies of COVID-19
DANIA BEACH — Kim Salvino, the devoted wife of Dania Beach Vice Mayor Marco Salvino Sr., died Sunday night after 17 days in the hospital battling COVID-19.
She was 64.
An Ohio native who moved to Dania Beach years ago, she leaves behind her husband of 46 years, son Marco Jr., daughter Angela Salvino Lee and four grandchildren.
Salvino, who was too distraught Monday to comment, posted this heartbreaking message on Facebook soon after her death: “Tonight my wife passed after a 3-week fight with this horrible disease. Thanks to all the staff at Memorial ICU for working so hard to fight for her recovery. Thank everyone for their prayers. They will go to our family and to her spirit.”
His son, Marco Jr., described his mother as a good-hearted person who went out of her way to make holidays and birthdays special.
“My mom was loving, sweet, supportive, a great listener,” he said Monday. “Always there for her kids and family. My mom had a good soul. A genuinely good person!”
Family friend
Anne Castro described her as the family matriarch who played mom to just about everyone.
“She was an intelligent, beautiful woman,” Castro said. “She supported everyone i n the family in any way she could. Everyone relied on her for emotional support. She was always there for everybody. She was just a wonderful person.”
Kim Salvino supported her husband’s political career “100 percent,” but tended to steer clear of commission meetings, Castro said. Nonetheless, she was known around town and well-liked.
She had chosen a favorite quote for her Facebook page that hinted at a positive and uplifting attitude: “The day is only as special as you make it!”
More than 500 family and friends posted their condolences on the vice mayor’s post, i ncluding County Commissioner Beam Furr, Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy and fellow Commissioner Chickie Brandimarte.
“I was so sorry to hear of Kim’s passing,” Dania Beach Commissioner Lori Lewellen told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “She loved her family more than anything, and she will be truly missed. Our condolences go out to Marco, their children and grandchildren at this difficult time.”
A walk-through viewing will be held Monday from 9 to 10 a.m. at Joseph Scarano Funeral Home at 6970 Stirling Road in Davie.
An 11 a.m. funeral will follow at Dania Memorial Park Cemetery, 300 West Dixie Highway. Those who cannot attend in person will be able to watch via a livestream recording of the service.