Salvador Cervera

Salvador was born on February 17, 1950 to Josephine and Salvador Cervera. He was first generation American, as both parents immigrated from Spain. Sal grew up on Madison St. in the Lower East Side, playing football and softball with friends from the neighborhood. He went to St. James elementary school until he was "kicked out by the nuns". He switched to PS 1, and later went to Brooklyn Tech HS. For college he attended St John's University.

Sal was always a hard worker, reliable and dependable. He prided himself on building and maintaining a good reputation. As a kid he worked for a news stand and earned a reputation as "the only honest employee" his boss had. Growing up he worked at his father's dry-cleaning store for a short time as well as holding several other jobs, including working on the family farm in Spain when he visited for the summers.

Sal met his future wife Theresa while she was walking her dog at the park of PS 1. When they first married, Sal was working as a History Teacher while waiting for a position to open with the IRS. When he first started working as an Examiner for the IRS, he also worked as a janitor at night to help support his growing family. Over the years he moved up the ranks to manager and held that position for over 30 years. She was very proud of his work ethics and instilled those values into his four children, Christine, Samantha, Michelle and Anthony.

Sal loved to take his kids on day trips. Growing up we had many trips to Great Adventure, hiking at Bear Mountain, fishing off the pier at the end of Emmons Ave, bike riding along the trail by the Belt Parkway, just to name a few. He even drove the family down to Florida to Disney a few times. Dad also enjoyed taking us to craft fairs because they always had good snacks. Then again, he said the same thing when we used to go apple picking.

Sal was always frugal when it came to himself, but when it came to his kids and later his grandkids he was willing to splurge. He loved to joke that he raised four crazy kids and five crazier grandkids. Back in 2014 he started a tradition of going to Great Wolf Lodge with Danny, Rita and Catherine during February break to celebrate his birthday. Later when Mason and Skye were old enough, they joined the tradition of celebrating Papa's Birthday at Great Wolf. This became a yearly tradition that we all looked forward to.

Sal passed on Thursday, March 26, 2026, surrounded by his family. He was a son, a brother, a husband, father, uncle, grandfather and great-uncle. He was a man who meant his word when he gave it. A man who worked hard to take care of his family. A man who when told "I love you Daddy/Pop/Papa" gave a response and meant it when he said "I love you more."