Family relied on victim in bad times
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By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
The family of Mariano Melvin Salangdron Sr. often turned to "Mel" for help in crisis, so yesterday they turned their own crisis into something that would help: a plea for safety on the roads.
"We all knew it's dangerous," said Melvin Jr., reflecting on the speeding that caused two cars to plow into a flatbed truck on the H-1, killing his 49-year-old father. "But it never really hits you until it hits you.
Salangdron
"A tragedy? Yes. Preventable? Yes." He paused. "I would like to ask people to just slow down, please."
Melvin Jr., 31, is one of four children of Mel Sr. and his wife, Linda: The others are Melanie Davis, 32; and Kim and Mark Salangdron, 24 and 23. There also are four young grandchildren, with one more on the way.
The kids played in the yard at the couple's Wahiawa home while dozens of friends milled about, bringing food to the picnic table, exchanging hugs and words of comfort in the hours after Salangdron died.
They pulled out a blue Winnie the Pooh photo album, with pictures of Salangdron and the kids throughout and the word "Memories" on the cover.
Salangdron Sr. was a passenger in the flat-bed truck owned by Safety Systems, which was doing its regular morning inspection of the section of the freeway that becomes the zipper lane for morning commuters.
His employers, Safety Systems Hawaii Inc., described him in a written statement as "a good family man."
His widow accepted the expressions of love, a weak smile crossing her face but her eyes still red from crying.
"I'm going to miss him," Linda Salangdron said simply of the man she first met at Waialua High School. He was a friend of her brother.
"I never thought we'd end up together," she said with a little laugh.
His children are wondering, now that they've ended up apart, how they're going to manage without the man who, they said, helped so many people. His brother-in-law, Gary Goldie, said Salangdron was a wealth of information and support for everyday needs; few mechanical or electrical problems stumped him.
Citing another example, daughter Melanie Davis said that the family's Circle Drive home is owned by a longtime friend who is wheelchair-bound, adding that her father often used to stop off to give him a hand after work.
"Dad's the one there to help when we have this kind of tragedy," Davis said, her voice breaking. "He was the one always helping, always around.
"Come on — he was going to turn 50!" she added. "Hawai'i 5-0."
April 5 was to have been his 50th birthday.
Davis first heard of the accident through a colleague at work. The phone wires linking family members buzzed as news of the accident, and its location, started to spread. Davis called her father's phone but got only his voice mail.
Eventually, the grim call came to the family home and the harsh reality struck like a thunderclap. Melvin Jr. found himself compelled to call his father's number anyway.
"I left my goodbye to him on his voice mail," he said. "I said, 'I hope I can fill that void.'
"It really helped to hear his voice," he added.
"As his son, I feel cheated," he said. "I don't know if I can fill his void. I'm still learning."
The full impact of that loss will take a long time to filter down. Davis doesn't think anyone can believe it has happened, least of all her mother.
"She's waiting for him to come home," she said.
