Salvador A. Ramirez
January 22, 1936 – August 24, 2014
Educator and author, Salvador A. Ramirez was born in Los Angeles, CA and died of natural causes at his home in Carlsbad, CA.
A United States Navy/NSA veteran, Sal received his BA and MA degrees from California State University Long Beach and his Counseling Credential from UCLA. He taught for nine years and served as a guidance counselor at the secondary level in the Los Angeles Unified School District before appointment as Principal of an experimental parent-initiated K-12 alternative school in the San Fernando Valley where he successfully guided its formative first four years.
He was then chosen to lead San Dieguito High School in Encinitas, CA as Principal during a time of unprecedented growth in enrollment. Under his leadership, the school gained consecutive six-year accreditations and recognition as a California Distinguished School. His passion for California history set him on an extensive research path that led to accolades for his books, mostly about the Southern Pacific Railroad: “Fort Gaston, California: A Brief Sketch”; “From New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn in 1849”; “Octopus Speaks: The Colton Letters”; “Inside Man: Life and Times of Mark Hopkins”; “Clash of Titans: Ambrose Bierce and Collis Huntington”; “Colton Letters Revisited.” Sal’s extensive library and manuscripts will be made available at California State Railroad Museum Library.
Sal is survived by his wife of 55 years, Mitsuko; son, Robert of Maricopa AZ; sister, Judy Whitfield of Bend, OR; sister, Dolores Hamady of Carlsbad, CA; brother, Victor of Carlsbad, CA; and numerous nephews and nieces. At Sal’s request, no services will be held.
Published in the Los Angeles Times from Oct. 8 to Oct. 12, 2014