ALAMOSA– Along with his son, Ryan, and daughter, Marga, longtime friends and colleagues gathered Friday on a windy but sunny day on the Adams State University campus this week for the unveiling of a memorial created and placed in honor of Ignacio “Nacho” Martinez.

Martinez succumbed to cancer in early March 2021. He was owner of Jalisco, Inc. and the Best Western Alamosa Inn prior to moving from the Valley a number of years ago.

Comments made during the service by esteemed people such as Dr. Cheryl Lovell, President of ASU; Dr. Jeff Geiser, former ASU football coach and athletic director: Liz Thomas-Hensley, Alamosa City Councilor and ASU professor, and others provided even those who may not have known him with a true sense of who Nacho Martinez was and what he meant to Adams State University, the community of Alamosa and the San Luis Valley during the time he called this valley his home.

Friend. Mentor. Encourager. Contributor and organizer of numerous community events, some that continue to this day. Premier agent of positive change in the San Luis Valley. And finally, fervent supporter of ASU.

Keith Cerny, close friend to Martinez and publisher of the Valley Courier, served as master of ceremonies at the dedication presentation. Cerny opened by describing Martinez as “often soft spoken but determined”, also noting that, despite coming from a humble beginning, Martinez went on to become “nationally known in the hospitality industry.”

Cerny briefly touched on just a few of the honors Martinez received, including the coveted Billy Adams Award in 1993, the first ever Grizzly Club Corporate Partner of the Year in 2004 and serving many years as president and member of the governing board of the ASC Athletic Foundation, now known as the Grizzly Club.

In concluding his comments, Cerny shared a personal note about his longtime friendship with Martinez, which began with a “Friday Scotch Club” and led to Martinez being one of the “best men” at Cerny’s wedding to wife, Debbie Cerny, sixteen years ago.

When Dr. Lovell took the podium, she reflected on, what she called, the southern proverb “Living in high cotton” – a phrase describing the feeling of being particularly wealthy and successful.  

“Ignacio “Nacho” Martinez would know this phrase well as he helped pick cotton with his father when he first came to the United States as a boy,” she said. “Each day of his life, Nacho lived in high cotton in every sense of the term. But most of all, in the way he carried himself with his positive outlook and enthusiasm. And although we are celebrating Nacho on the Adams State campus today, the entire Valley (whether the people of the Valley realize or not) has felt the positive impact of this wonderful man.

“Nacho is irreplaceable. His advocacy. His humor. His friendship.

“But if we care for our friends, our family, and our community like Nacho did, we too will grow and prosper. Like high cotton.”

Dr. Geiser spoke of Martinez’s generosity and devotion to ASU, citing times Martinez loaned his business’ van to ASU to transport athletes to competitions or opening a large block of rooms at a greatly reduced rate for students when the college ran out of housing or his frequent practice of buying dinner for athletes and their parents when they were being recruited by ASU.

Geiser closed his comments with a line from the poem “Epitaph” by Merritt Malloy.

“Love doesn’t die. People do,” Geiser quoted before continuing. “We’re here because we loved Nacho Martinez. He may be gone but that love goes on forever.”

City Council member Liz Hensley shared personal memories from her friendship with Martinez that started almost twenty years ago when she was a single mother, working at Martinez’s restaurant Grizzly Inn.

“Nacho always made sure that I was okay and that my girls were okay,” she said. Martinez encouraged her to go to college and was supportive while she was in school. After graduating from ASU in 2005, friends suggested she continue her education toward becoming a professor.

“I asked Nacho what he thought of me becoming a professor, and he was 100 percent supportive,” she said. “He taught me what it means to ‘bleed green’. He had a true giving nature. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Nacho Martinez.”

Ryan Martinez was last to speak.  After thanking everyone for attending and the creation of the memorial, Ryan said, “My dad didn’t want to be honored but he deserved it. He lived his last days with his grandchildren, watching them play sports. That meant a lot to him.”

The presentation concluded with Nacho’s son and daughter unveiling a large rock bench, one of three arranged in the shape of a “U”, with one bearing a plaque honoring Ignacio “Nacho” Martinez, Longtime Supporter of Adams State University and the San Luis Valley.  

The benches are, fittingly so, placed between Plachy Hall and the football stadium.