Staff

Who We Are

Nicanor C. “Daddy Nick” Romero and his wife, Alfides “Sister” Vallejos Romero, founded Romero Funeral Home in 1936. The couple felt it an unnecessary burden to have to take a loved one to “the big city” (Albuquerque) for funeral services. Their vision was to provide families in the Belen area with a locally owned funeral home to care for their needs during a most difficult time.

N.C. and Alfides set out and succeeded in making their vision a reality. They provided comfort and care to the people of our community for twenty-four years before proudly handing the business down to their daughter, Annie, her husband, Salomon “Salo” Garcia, their son, Arno Romero, and his wife, Barbara. After the deaths of Annie in 1992, Salo in 1995, and Arno in 1983, the family business was then passed on to Annie and Salo’s son, Estanislado “Tiny” Garcia, and Arno and Barbara’s son Dicky Romero and his wife Suzanne.

Oh behalf of Salo Garcia, and Salo & Annie Garcia's family, we lovingly extend our hearts and our souls to the people in the community of Belen, Valencia County, the State of NM and all around the United States, for the thoughtful expression of concern and love that you poured into our lives during this most difficult time.

we wish to thank each and everyone of you for the donations made to St. Mary's School, all the beautiful flowers, the loving cards, and all the wonderful food that you used to comfort our sorrow. We can only describe your generosity as overwhelming. A very special thank you to all of Annie's sisters in Beta Sigma Phi for all that you did for her, and for us during these past few days and during all the years that you were together. Also a very special thanks to Father Frank Prieto, Father Roger Martinez, Norbert Sanchez, Our Lady of Belen Catholic Choir and all the employees of Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church, for the kind and loving manner in which they treated our family; to Barbara Romero, Tiny Garcia, Dicky Romero and the rest of the staff of Romero Funeral Home for their professional manner in which the funeral was handled; to the many Funeral Directors of New Mexico and the other states; to Alfred Sanchez for providing such beautiful music at Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church and at Annie's grave site. Your many kind thoughts and deeds have touched our hearts and our memories of this exceptional and loving, caring wife, mother and grandmother. Each and everyone of you lightened our grief immensely. Now please allow us to lighten your grief on the passing of your dear friend, Annie

"she was at work doing what she loved to do. Sudden, she felt tired , laid down to rest, and within a moment, peaceful rose to be with the Lord."

Dicky and Suzanne Romero, Owners

Dicky and Suzanne Romero have continued to keep the Romero tradition strong.Both Dicky and Suzanne are the current owners of Romero Funeral Home.Suzanne holds an intern license in arranging/directing, while Dicky holds intern licenses in both arranging/directing and embalming.
Rosalinda “Rosa” A. Ortiz, Funeral Service Practitioner

Rosalinda “Rosa” A. Ortiz is proud to be the Funeral Service Practitioner (FSP) for Romero Funeral Home. She was born in Bosque, NM and is the daughter of Martin & Karen Martinez. Rosa graduated Belen High School in 2002 and Mesa Community College in Mesa Arizona in 2007 with a degree in Mortuary Science.“My dream was to work for Romero Funeral Home. Being employed by a long-time family owned funeral home gives me the opportunity to learn from people that have passed their experience from generation to generation. I find this to be extremely valuable in serving the families in and around Valencia County and to be able to give them the care that they have come to expect from Romero Funeral Home since 1936. Rosalinda has been the FSP for Romero Funeral Home since 2008. She is Married to the love of her life, Carlos Ortiz, together they have two amazing children Santiago, and Carla.If you ever want to reach out to Rosa you can email her at [email protected]
Madison Craver, Office Manager

Madison is the Office Manager for Romero Funeral Home. She was born and raised in Belen. Madison graduated from BHS in 2017. She joined the Romero Funeral Home family in order to better serve her community.
Clara Saiz, First Call Team Trainee

Clara Saiz is a lifetime resident of Belen, New Mexico. She is a proud mother of six amazing children. Clara is a 2003 BHS graduate. Her passion for honoring those who have passed away and caring for the families they leave behind has only deepened since joining the Romero Family. Clara is honored to assist the families of our community. When she’s not at work, Clara spends time with her children.
Pete Vital, Funeral Home Operations Supervisor/ First Call Team

Lifelong resident of Valencia County and graduate of Los Lunas High School. Pete, better known as “PJ”, is a loyal employee of the Romero Funeral Home family. His commitment to excellence and attention to detail is appreciated by all of his colleagues. We are extremely fortunate to have PJ at this time. He is currently weighing options to join the United State Army to continue his commitment to service.
Aubrey E. Tucker, First Call Team

Aubrey has been a Valencia County resident since 1994. Before arriving in New Mexico, Aubrey was a soldier in the United States Army serving in Europe from 1988 to 1993. Once he completed his active duty service, he worked as a teacher, band director, and administrator for the Belen School District for 14 years. During that time, he also volunteered his time as a Reserve Police Officer for the City of Belen and also volunteered as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff for the Valencia County Sheriff’s Department. After completing 22 years of public education service and receiving the 2014 “Administrator of the Year” award from the Bernalillo school district, Aubrey retired from Bernalillo in 2015. "I am very humbled to have the opportunity to serve the community of Belen and Valencia County once again. I have devoted my entire career to helping people and the community. I am very grateful to, once again, work in a capacity to serve the residents of Valencia County and taking care of cherished loved ones.”
Teri Leahigh, First Call Team

“Born in Denver, Colorado and traveled all over the United States as a child and young adult. I had experienced wonderful trips to local candy shops in small towns all over the U.S . When I finally settled down in beautiful Los Lunas in 2000 to raise my 5 children with my husband Mark, I knew I had to recreate that small town candy shop for other children, so together my husband and I opened Teri’s Sweet Garden. I love making sweet memories of “kids in a candy store” for all ages. I knew I needed to do more for our community do I became a part of the wonderful family of Romero Funeral Home. To be there for families in their time of need and to let them know that we care is an honor. The compassion and dedication that the Romero Family has is exactly what I wanted to be a part of!”