Wendy Ann Saldaña

Wendy Ann Saldaña, 67, of Nederland, died Thursday, January 11, 2024, surrounded by family and friends.   She was born September 25, 1956, in Port Arthur, to Marcelina Amelia DeLeon Montalvo and Mauricio Montalvo.

Wendy attended Port Arthur Independent Schools and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1975.  She attended Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church and was a founding member of the Building Fund Youth Group.  This youth group raised money for building the current church.

She met her love, Michael Saldaña during this time, and they were married on August 18, 1978.  They had one daughter, Amanda, and were married for 42 years when he passed away.

Wendy is the embodiment of a happy and beloved life.   She had an infectious laugh.  She and her husband love to travel and she was the navigator. She always had the maps, and she knew the important stops, like restrooms, restaurants, and wineries, gently telling Michael, her pilot, “Turn here!”  They travelled many miles and places together, sharing their travel knowledge with family and friends along the way. Important stuff, like the best cracklin’s in Lake Charles, or the best Mexican food in Del Rio, or what to see in Fredericksburg.  She loved going to movies, the theater, playing bunko and pokeno.

Wendy worked in various retail capacities, but her main role in life was a home maker.  She was an excellent cook and seamstress.  She sewed many costumes for the Mexican Heritage Folkloric Dancers and for her daughter and granddaughter as part of the Nederland Westernaires.  She also supported many civic clubs and charities providing crafts or lending her talents to raffles, etc.  She enjoyed supporting her grandchildren at baseball and dance and bringing them to explore museums and on other trips.

Wendy also gave her love and guidance while raising two generations of her family’s children.  She became “Nanny” to many of her nieces, nephews, cousins, and her grandchildren.  She provided a solid foundation that “her children” have gained strength from as they have gone through their lives.

Survivors include her daughter, Amanda Nichols; grandchildren, Jackson Nichols and fiancé, Jasmine French, and Katelin Nichols; great-grandbaby, Jameson Nichols; siblings, Lisa Bellow, Morris Montalvo and wife, Renee, and Freddie Montalvo and wife, Jan; sisters-in-law, Theresa Falcon and husband, Michael, Margarite Saldaña, and Martha Russell and husband, Billy; and brothers-in-law, Thomas Saldaña and wife, Chandra, Mark Saldaña and wife, Cindy, John Saldaña and husband, Marcel Vargas, and Stephen Saldaña and wife, Jessie.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Michael A. Saldaña; mother, Marcelina Amelia DeLeon Montalvo; father, Mauricio Montalvo; mother-in-law, Juanita Saldaña; and father-in-law, Louis Saldaña.

A gathering of Mrs. Saldaña’s family and friends will be 9:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., Saturday, January 20, 2024, at Broussard’s, 505 North 12th Street, Nederland, with a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 211 Hardy Avenue, Nederland. Her interment will follow at Memory Gardens of Jefferson County, Nederland.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Mrs. Saldaña’s honor may be made to The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center Palliative Care, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, Texas 77210-4486.