Carlos Sena Obituary

Former KSUT-FM general manager Carlos Sena died of heart failure in his sleep Monday, Jan. 11, 2010, at his home in

Santa Fe. He was 52.

Mr. Sena was born to Claude and Juanita Sanchez Sena with the help of the Medical Mission Sisters on May 27, 1957, in

Santa Fe.

“He began his academic career as a kindergarten dropout, lasting only one day at the Garcia Street Club," his family

wrote.

Mr. Sena attended St. Francis Elementary School, where he served as an altar boy. After attending Harrington Junior

High School, he graduated from Santa Fe High School in 1975.

“He is still remembered by all his teachers, both for the naughty and the nice," his family wrote.

In 1981, Mr. Sena graduated from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces “magna cum difficultium" as his family

wrote, with a bachelor's degree in communications.

His first job after graduation was with the New Mexico Department of Probation and Parole, where his family said he was

able to help both friends and strangers. After receiving a job offer to be the program director for KENW-FM, the

Eastern New Mexico University radio station, he moved to Portales, N.M.

He left in 1988 to take on new challenges in Durango. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Sena was the general manager for KDUR-FM

(91.9 and 93.9), the radio station at Fort Lewis College. He went on to serve as the general manager of KSUT-FM (89.3

and 90.1 in La Plata County) from 1990 to 1999.

During his tenure at KSUT, Mr. Sena developed it into a regional station, serving 14 communities in the

Durango-Farmington area. In June 1998, he started Southern Ute Tribal Radio specifically to serve the community that

originally founded KSUT.

Mr. Sena was a member of the Durango Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. 507.

In 1999, Mr. Sena gave up his career to return to Santa Fe, where he took care of his family and his family's

property-management business. He continued to be involved in nonprofit radio after being elected to the board of

directors of KUNM-FM by the listeners.

“Carlos' greatest talent was the ability, via a quick wit and some wild storytelling, to make people laugh, one of the

greatest gifts of all," his family wrote. “He was also well known for his random acts of kindness - long before giving

was in vogue. Carlos was a mountain of joy and had a heart so big that it, often to the dismay of his close friends and

family, sometimes cut off the circulation to his brain. The challenge now, for all those he left behind, is to find

someone as funny and as entertaining and as generous to fill his moccasins."

Mr. Sena is survived by his sister Monica Sena of Whittier, Calif.; brother, Jose Sena, also of Whittier; adopted

brothers and sisters Nick Klonis, Mark Grossi and Kathleen Shelley, all of Santa Fe, and Paul Lineberry of Moorpark,

Calif.; an aunt and uncle; and numerous cousins.

A wake will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010, at Evangelo's, 200 W. San Francisco St. in Santa Fe.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010, at St. Francis Cathedral. Burial will

take place at Rosario Cemetery. A reception will be held after the Mass at Tiny's, located at the corner of St. Francis

Drive and Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Four Corners Public Radio and/or Southern Ute Radio, P.O. Box

737, Ignacio, CO 81137 or at www.ksut.org.

A blog post about Mr. Sena with a section for comments is available at
"http://www.ksutradio.wordpress.com">www.ksutradio.wordpress.com.