Christa Eva Salvador

Loving Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother
Christa Eva Salvador passed peacefully in her sleep to be with our Heavenly Father Jesus Christ, late Saturday night in the VITAS Hospice Unit at St. Mary's Hospital. She was the devoted wife of the late Thomas F. Salvador.
Christa was born in Brandenburg, Germany where she was mostly raised by her grandparents after her single mother, Klara Ann Krugar, passed away at a young age. As a vulnerable child growing up during World War II, Christa endured unspeakable hardships, traumas, and abuse from a young age and was ultimately separated from her family while trying to escape a war-torn country. She spoke of having to painfully give up her first two children for adoption prior to her departure.
By God's grace, she met her first husband Vincent Fina, who aided in her escape to America shortly after the birth of their daughter Linda. Once in America, they settled in Port Washington, NY where her young family grew again after the birth of her son Bruce in 1959. Less than 10 years into her new life in the States, she lost her dear husband Vincent to cancer.
After Vincent's passing, Christa married her second husband, Thomas Salvador and enjoyed a 48-year marriage together, continuing to build their family with the additions of Fred, Marian, and Thomas Salvador.
Christa was known to be a generous and lighthearted soul. Despite all she had been through, she never lost her sense of humor - nor did she ever lose her thick German accent - with choice words and favorite phrases never failing to provide her family laugher throughout the years (i.e., shicken!).
Christa was a hard worker and held various roles throughout the course of her lifetime, including her favorite position serving elementary school students lunch in a school cafeteria in Baldwin, NY - where she spent the majority of her life prior to moving to Waterbury, CT in 2004 to care for her late husband, Tom.
In her spare time, she enjoyed knitting, needlepoint, playing rummy, and sipping on a cup of coffee or glass of Bailey's with a friend. She was well known for her sweet-tooth, and we always assumed her great health and longevity must be attributed to her passion for coffee ice cream!
She was one of a kind and those who knew her were far better for it.
Left to cherish Christa's memory are her children, Bruce Fina of Plainville, Linda (Fina) McKesson of Cassopolis, Michigan, Marian Salvador, of West Palm Beach, Florida, Thomas and his wife Dori of Waterbury. She also leaves behind her grandchildren: Nikki (Fina) Williams, Alexa Russo and her husband Neal, Katlyn Salvador, Thomas Salvador, and Kimberly Kraeling, her great grandchildren: Jacob and Ashley Williams, and Scarlett, Angelo, and Nora Russo. In addition to her late husbands, Vincent and Tom, Christa was predeceased by her son Fred and son-in-law Andrew McKesson.
Her family would like to thank her closest friends and live-in aides: TuTu, Mbali, and her dearest friend Marie Matthews for their exceptional and compassionate care and friendship - you were a Godsend and always such a gift to Christa and her family.
Her funeral will held on Saturday, October 21, 2023 from 9:00 – 10:30am with a parlor service from 10:30-11:00am. Burial will be private in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Watertown. Family and friends may visit with the family from 9:00-10:30am. Memorial contributions in Christa's name may be made to: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memorials Processing, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959 or online at www.Stjude.org For more information, to sign the online guestbook or to leave online condolences please visit www. maioranofuneralhome.com.