{"id":376626,"date":"2026-07-17T09:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/376626\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T09:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:37:13","slug":"at-a-houston-funeral-home-a-community-comes-together-to-pay-respects-to-lorenzo-salgado-araujo-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/376626\/","title":{"rendered":"At a Houston funeral home, a community comes together to pay respects to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2014 Two of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo\u2019s sons received a steady stream of hugs, handshakes and besos Thursday evening from hundreds of people they\u2019ve never met, who came to a funeral home in the city\u2019s east side to grieve him as one of their own. <\/p>\n

At the public viewing at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home, which was followed by a Catholic rosary, visitors said that\u2019s what it means to live in Houston\u2019s east end and to be part of the Latino community: stand up together, and grieve together.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could we not show up and be here?\u201d said Luke Orlando, who lives 10 minutes from where Salgado Araujo was shot and killed<\/a> on July 7 by a federal immigration agent. \u201cIt could have been any of us, any of our neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The viewing drew hundreds of residents from across the Houston area who paid their respects and offered condolences to his family, including local leaders like Mayor John Whitmire, state Sen. Carol Alvarado<\/a>, and Houston City Council Member Julian Ramirez.<\/p>\n

Salgado Araujo\u2019s two eldest sons, 29-year-old Ronaldo Salgado and 27-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Jr., stood by their father\u2019s casket for hours, greeting everyone who approached. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here because Lorenzo\u2019s boys need to know that we love them, we are here for them,\u201d said Kathy Danas, who lives in Katy, a suburb on the other side of Houston. \u201cToday, all the tias and tios are getting together, all the primos and primas, getting together to be here for Lorenzo\u2019s family and his boys \u2026 If we don\u2019t take care of our gente, no one else will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danas said her father grew up and lived in Houston\u2019s east side and, like Salgado Araujo, was a working man who just wanted to support his family. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad would do anything for anyone, and Lorenzo seemed to be that kind of father, he was like my father,\u201d she said. Her father, who died 12 years ago, would \u201cbe so hurt if he saw what was going on, he would not be able to handle the world the way it is now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Two women leave a public visitation for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on Thursday. Jon Shapley for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

Salgado Araujo\u2019s dedication to his construction job and love for soccer were on full display at the funeral home on Thursday. Two of his white hard hats sat on the greeting table, with markers so people could sign them, surrounded by his work gloves, tape measures, and tool box. Another table was adorned with his soccer memorabilia and two of his Mexican soccer jerseys. <\/p>\n

As a mariachi band, dressed head to toe in black, stood in front of the casket and filled the room with music, visitors saw photos and videos of a joyful Salgado Araujo dancing with his wife at a fiesta. A proud Salgado Araujo posing with one of his three sons after a soccer game, holding a tall trophy. A young Salgado Araujo listening to his son playing guitar. <\/p>\n

Salgado Araujo lived in this community for more than three decades, built a construction business and put all of his sons through college. <\/p>\n

Many parts of the 52-year-old\u2019s life and family resonate deeply with residents in Houston\u2019s Latino community, which since the shooting, has been gripped by fear and grief<\/a>. Albert Davila said he relates most to Salgado Araujo\u2019s eldest son Ronaldo, since they\u2019re close in age and are both teachers. <\/p>\n

Davila said he\u2019s proud of living in Houston\u2019s east side, where \u201cyou feel like home anywhere you go \u2026 Seeing everyone here today, it felt like I\u2019m going to a family event.\u201d <\/p>\n

But he said elected officials have \u201crobbed a lot of the community of their innocence,\u201d and he\u2019s more motivated than before to push his representatives to fight for tougher limitations on immigration enforcement \u2014 or lose their seats. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur local, state reps, they don\u2019t feel pressure, but they should not feel comfortable right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, with a hand on his shoulder, leaves a public visitation for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on Thursday. Jon Shapley for The Texas Tribun<\/p>\n

As Nelly Monrroy walked up to the funeral home, she felt a mix of emotions. Devastation for her community, for sure, but also immense pride for her Latino heritage. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am here today in solidarity with my immigrant community,\u201d Monrroy said. \u201cWe come here looking for a better life for us and for our family, and that\u2019s what Lorenzo did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monrroy works at Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, a church just down the street from the funeral home.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t know Salgado Araujo. But that didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going to stop here, I\u2019m going to keep speaking up and on behalf of Mr. Salgado,\u201d she said. \u201cThe least I can do is come here today to pay my respects.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 Two of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo\u2019s sons received a steady stream of hugs, handshakes and besos Thursday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[133100,56,58,57,1724,3647,6958,287,293,6473],"class_list":["post-376626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-carol-alvarado","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-immigration","tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-katy","tag-politics","tag-texas-legislature","tag-well-a-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}