A fixture in the Colorado legislature for 20 years will be remembered Friday. Sen. Bob Martinez, a Democrat from Commerce City, died Nov. 21. He was 73.

Martinez served in the Colorado House from 1980 to 1984, then was a state senator for 16 years until 2000, when term limits ended his legislative career.

The service Friday begins with a Rosary at 11 a.m. at Our Lady Mother of the Church at 6690 E. 72nd Ave. in Commerce City, followed by a Mass and reception.

Martinez served as the Senate Democratic caucus chairman, Senate assistant minority leader and chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, but his family said one of his fondest memory was serving acting governor for one day, July 11, 1991.

“Bob was passionate about issues regarding the elderly, veterans, children and the homeless,” his obituary states.

In 1998, he stood against including the Sand Creek Massacre on a Capitol monument. In 1864, hundreds of U.S. cavalry and militia soldiers attacked a peaceful camp in Kiowa County, killing and in many cases mutilating the bodies of 163 Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women and children over eight hours of slaughter.

“It’s an embarrassment to the citizens of Colorado to have a statue honoring the Civil War dead, and to have underneath it an inglorious massacre,” Martinez told Westword at the time.

“By including Sand Creek, other soldiers who fought honorably have been besmirched.”

Martinez was born in Holly in southeast Colorado and graduated from Holly HIgh. He attended Lamar Junior College and graduated from  the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo,  the University of Colorado at Boulder and the John F. Kennedy Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Governments at Harvard University.

“Bob loved to fish, good homemade red chili, and was a dedicated fan of the Denver Broncos and CU Buffaloes,” his obituary states. “An avid reader of local and national newspapers, as well as Newsweek and Time magazine, he had a keen interest in national and state political issues, and kept current on issues key to the Latino community.”

“I first met Bob in 1978 when he was running the first time to represent House District 32. It was the beginning of a long friendship,” said Gil Reyes, the former Adams County tax assessor, wrote in the Martinez family guestbook. “Bob truly was a representative and later senator ‘for all the people.’ He kicked open the doors of opportunity and fought for the Chicano community and the other underrepresented communities in the state of Colorado.

“The state of Colorado will miss Senator Bob Martinez.”

Martinez is survived by sons Julian Martinez and Gerald Martinez, three grandchildren and six siblings.