Emilio Naranjo, 1916-2008: Friends, family honor political titan

Longtime Rio Arriba County leader buried in Española

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican

11/17/2008 - 11/18/08

ESPAÑOLA — Emilio Naranjo was laid to rest Monday as family, friends and allies reminisced, applauded and joked about the longtime Rio Arriba County political leader.

Naranjo, 92, died in his sleep Thursday at a son's home in Albuquerque.

His political résumé included some 50 years as chairman of the Rio Arriba County Democratic Party and stints as sheriff, federal marshal, county manager and state senator.

Attending the funeral Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Española were former Govs. Jerry Apodaca and David Cargo, former state Senate President Pro-tem Manny Aragon and former state Insurance Superintendent Eric Serna.

Prior to graveside services in the church cemetery, family members ordered a reporter from the Rio Grande Sun, the Española weekly newspaper, to leave the area.

During his eulogy, Monsignor Leo Lucero said that when a poor couple asked Naranjo for gasoline money so they could visit a sick parent, he took them in his own car.

When a recent college graduate asked Naranjo for help, he took him to an interview where he was hired as a teacher, Lucero said.

"He gave whatever he could to help those most in need," he said. "And people loved him because of his kindness and generosity."

Bennie Naranjo, one of 16 children from Emilio Naranjo's two marriages, introduced the extended family to the gathering inside the church and told how his father had asked him to speak at the funeral.

"I want the children to know, he loved you all," he said. "He might not ever have told you so. He didn't know how. He wasn't that type of person, to express his emotions. But he loved you. He loved each one of you."

After talking briefly about how his father grew up poor in the village of Guachupangue near Santa Clara Pueblo, Bennie Naranjo then cut his remarks short, saying he wanted each person to remember his father in his or her own way.

"Remember this — we're here to bury the remains," he said. "This is not Emilio Naranjo in this coffin. Emilio Naranjo left this world four days ago. ... We are gathered here as community to bury our dead, and we are going to do exactly that. It's our last debt to him. Why don't we do that? Why don't we go now and return him to the earth?"

After the crowd applauded Bennie Naranjo's remarks, they dispersed and began walking toward the church graveyard on the far west side of Española, overlooking the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east.

Outside, Art Trujillo, Santa Fe mayor from 1978-82, recalled how Naranjo had mentored him when he returned to New Mexico after working in North Carolina. "I learned a lot from him," he said. "He taught me what they didn't tell me in school. He taught me the hard licks of politics."

Former Gov. Cargo said Naranjo supported him even though he was a Republican. "He could be so funny," he said. "I'll never forget when I was up here and I was campaigning. I said, 'I wonder how I'm going to do in Cañones.' And he said, 'You'll get all except two votes. ... I'm going to work on the other two.' "

Serna recalled driving to Chama years ago with Naranjo, who kept pointing out residences along the way. "He said, 'Eric, if you ever run for elective office' — because I hadn't planned on it then — 'you can never forget these people. ... You may be in grand metropolises, but these are the people ... that must be represented with great gusto.' "

Manny Aragon, a longtime former state senator from Albuquerque who recently pleaded guilty to three felonies in connection with the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse scandal, said he got to know Naranjo well in the state Senate.

"I'll remember him for his constant fight for the people of Rio Arriba County and especially his untiring efforts to get the Juan de Oñate statue or monument built," he said, referring to a project built at Alcalde. "I'm glad it came to be because it was very important to him and his Spanish ancestry."

Al Duran, Naranjo's aide in the Senate, said the U.S. Secret Service once asked him to bring Naranjo to Albuquerque to meet with then-President Clinton.

Duran usually interpreted for Naranjo, who was hard of hearing, but the Secret Service wouldn't let him in because he hadn't been vetted. When Naranjo left the room, Duran asked Naranjo what Clinton said. "How should I know?" Naranjo responded. "I'm deaf."

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.