Obituary
Carlos Sena, 52
Carlos Sena, a longtime public radio leader who founded the Native radio station at KSUT in Ignacio, Colo., died Jan. 11, 2010, at his home in Santa Fe, N.M., following a heart attack. He was 52.
Sena served as program director at KENW, at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, N.M., and g.m. at KDUR, at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo.
From 1990 to 1999, he was g.m. of KSUT-FM in Ignacio, Colo., operated by the Southern Ute Tribe and serving 14 communities. In 1998 he worked to found a sister station, KUTE, or Southern Ute Tribal Radio, to serve the tribe in particular.
Both stations carry the local weekly program Tribal Beat, which profiles Native politicians, artists and activists. He was also elected to the board of KUNM Radio in Albuquerque, N.M.
Sena was born in Santa Fe, May 27, 1957, to Claude Sena and Juanita Sanchez. He graduated from Santa Fe High School in 1975 and from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces in 1980 with a major in communications.
“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,” his family wrote in his obituary in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper.
He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Amalia Sena. He is survived by his sister Monica Sena; and brother, Jose Sena, both of Whittier, Calif.; his uncle, Joe Sanchez of Santa Fe; and his aunt, Tina Roybal, of Rio Rancho, N.M.
A burial Mass took place Jan. 19, with interment at Rosario Cemetery, Santa Fe. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Four Corners Public Radio and/or Southern Ute Tribal Radio, P.O. Box 737, Ignacio, CO 81137.
Friends of Sena and the station have posted comments at www.ksutradio.wordpress.com.
Web page posted Jan. 27, 2010
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