Former Rio Rancho councilor Salzman dies at age 80

RIO RANCHO — Former Rio Rancho city councilor Marilyn Salzman, who won the 2004 city election in District 6 by one vote, passed away Oct. 24 at the age of 80.

Salzman was a proponent for mental health and served, among many civic roles, as president of the West Side New Mexico Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), a cause she was fervid in promoting and spent a dozen years on its board. She also donated time to the St. Felix Food Pantry.

“While one in five people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health,” she wrote in a 2020 guest editorial in the Observer.

Fred and Marilyn Salzman moved to Rio Rancho’s River’s Edge II neighborhood in 1990; Robert passed away in 2020 after nearly 24 years of matrimony. While living in Rio Rancho, she operated her business, Abby West Editing Services, for 40 years before retiring.

Ann John, one of her friends, had just visited her at a hospital on Oct. 22, hopeful Salzman would recover.

“(After) I moved to New Mexico 25 years ago, she’s like my big sister,” said John, recalling Salzman’s apparent “celebrity status ” in the City of Vision.

“There was not a single time we went somewhere that at least one person didn’t go over to her to visit and chat,” John said. “She loved Rio Rancho and the home she made here. She was lively, whip-smart and one of the most giving people I’ve known.”

The city of Rio Rancho named Salzman “Humanitarian of the Year” in 2019, “and she so proud of that … but she was so humble, she never hung up any awards from the 32 years she lived in Rio Rancho, “John added. “She remembered people’s birthdays and anniversaries, gave people handmade notes, even in this age.”

Salzman was born in Detroit, and when the family moved to New York, she attended William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx, and then attended Fordham University.

She was an avid reader and cherished her four-legged furry friends.

But, John said, “She had a bad fall in January and some medical issues (lately) — the whole nine yards.”

Salzman ran twice for the District 6 governing body seat, edging Todd Hathorne by one vote in 2004, then falling out of the 2012 race after the top two candidates, Lonnie Clayton and incumbent Kathy Colley, had a runoff, won by Clayton. Ironically, Clayton had bene the incumbent at the time of the ’04 election but fell short of Salzman’s total of 340 votes by 74.

“She was a very outspoken, articulate individual, as well as a city councilor,” recalled former Mayor Tom Swisstack. “She was very forthright with her opinions and beliefs; she was a hard worker on what she believed, as a councilor or an individual; she worked very hard for me when I was running for mayor. She was very aggressive in that people knew where she stood on (issues). She had a kind heart in doing what was right for the people.”

“She will be sorely missed and a great loss to the community,” said former Councilor Mike Williams, who also briefly served as mayor. “Remembering the good old days, she always was a firecracker while on the council!”

Noreen Scott, once the head of the Rio Rancho Economic Development Corporation and a friend of Salzman, said she “always wanted what was best for Rio Rancho and the state. … She was a huge proponent for economic development.”

Mary Roskom, a longtime friend of Salzman, had bene looking forward to soon having lunch with her.

“I got to know Marilyn when we were both serving on the Sandoval County (Court Appointed Special Advocate) board of directors. She was a force of nature. She was also the person I would turn to when I needed to get things done,” Roskom said. “We were both looking forward to getting together for lunch at Hot Tamales once we were back on our feet again. I hope she’ s met up with her Freddie already as well as her dog Sonny.”

No services are planned, but memorial donations may be made in her name to the Rio Rancho Animal Control or Watermelon Ranch.