Juanita Santistevan celebrated her 106th birthday Saturday on the porch of her East Side home as vehicles with colorful signs and balloons waved, honked their horns, and sang happy birthday.

"She just wants to add that she had an absolutely wonderful day," said Loretta Pearson, Santistevan’s firstborn daughter.

Celebrating birthdays at a distance in the midst of a pandemic may be a new experience for most Puebloans — but not for Santistevan. She was just four years old during the influenza pandemic of 1918. Born in Trinidad to a Spanish-speaking family, Santistevan learned English in kindergarten.

"She graduated during the Depression, so she was recounting with my grandson that she remembers the Depression as being a monumental thing at her graduation — and now my grandson won’t graduate because of the coronavirus," Pearson said. "He will do it obviously a different way than the typical graduation."

Santistevan has three daughters: Pearson, Georgia Zamarripa, and Cecilia Simon. Santistevan has six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. However, it was more than just family members that drove by her Ninth Street home Saturday.

"There were people from our relay team, people from my work," Pearson said. "It was a real mixed group of people. We had cars — maybe in the vicinity of 15, 16 cars. A couple of them were on motorcycles, so about 20 (vehicles) probably."

Pearson said the family had informed the Pueblo Police Department that there would be several vehicles driving through the neighborhood, but that no one would be getting out of their cars in accordance with social distancing. Upon hearing of the celebration, members of the Pueblo Police Department also drove by with birthday wishes.

"We had like nine of them this morning at 11:30 drive by — and sirens were blowing and lights," Pearson said. "(Santistevan) went outside and she said it was just totally amazing. She cannot believe everybody took all this time just for her 106th."

Santistevan and her daughters also celebrated with breakfast and mimosas in the morning. Then Zoom video meetings with cousins from New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Then a family dinner, with banana cream pie for dessert.

A woman of strong faith and lover of music, Santistevan has sang in local church choirs, mariachis and symphonies. She is an avid Denver Broncos fan and is currently the oldest member of her American Cancer Society Relay for Life team. She also enjoys crossword puzzles and celebrity ciphers.

"Like she said all day long, ‘This is amazing,’ — and she is amazing," Zamarripa said.

jbartolo@chieftain.com

Twitter: @jamesbartolo6