Tributes are pouring in from Denver and statewide as officials mark the passing of legendary Hispanic leader Roger Cisneros, a former judge and state senator.

Cisneros, 93 and his wife, Adelia, 89, were found dead in their southwest Denver home in the Harvey Park neighborhood on Monday.

An official cause of death has not been released, however, news reports indicate carbon monoxide poisoning from a car accidentally left running in the garage may be to blame.

According to a 2012 bio, Cisneros was born in Questa, New Mexico, on Jan.22, 1924. After graduating high school, Cisneros joined the Army Air Corps, serving as a sergeant and cryptographer from 1943 to 1946 with the 333rd Bomb Group in Okinawa, Japan.

After World War II he headed to Longmont, Colorado, where his parents had started a dairy, and then enrolled at the University of Denver, graduating with a business degree in 1950. He later attended DU’s Westminster Law School. He obtained his law degree in 1957 and became one of only five Hispanic lawyers in Colorado. Career highlights included winning Gallegos v. People, a case that involved an involuntary confession by a juvenile. While the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, Cisneros took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won a reversal.

Cisneros, a Democrat, was first elected to the state Senate in 1964 and served three terms, representing his southwest Denver district. He was Senate Minority Caucus Leader from 1971 to 1972 and 1975 to 1976.

In 1978, Gov. Richard Lamm appointed Cisneros to the state District Court, where he served until 1989 and a brief retirement before returning to the practice of law. As a judge, he specialized in domestic, civil and criminal cases.

Cisneros’ public life also included service to Latino/a and other civic organizations, including as a founder of the Latino Research and Service Agency (LARASA), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and on the Colorado Olympic Commission when Denver was being considered as a winter Olympic site in the 1970s. Cisneros also was part of a community council that supervised the launch of Denver Public Schools’ integration program, also in the 1970s.

He received numerous accolades, including the Dale Tooley Award, named after the longtime Denver District Attorney.

A saddened former Speaker of the House Ruben Valdez of Lakewood said Cisneros, who was already in the General Assembly when Valdez was first elected, was a mentor and a very good senator and judge.

“I learned a lot from him,” Valdez told Colorado Politics. “Roger was a big voice in the ’60s, before a lot of people got involved, and a great voice for the Hispanic community.”

Adelia, also known as “Dee,” was also very active in the community and in many organizations, he said.

Valdez recounted that Cisneros always prided himself on voting with his constituents, even when it conflicted with his personal beliefs. “That doesn’t happen often,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman of Denver said Tuesday that “my heart is broken for the family and loved ones of Senator Cisneros and Adelia. A trailblazer for the Colorado Latino community, Roger Cisneros served as a passionate voice for civil rights both in the State Senate and on the bench as a judge. … Roger and Adelia may be gone, but their legacy and their contributions will never be forgotten.”

Mayor Michael Hancock also offered a tribute to Cisneros, calling him “a trailblazer who represented our city honorably in the State Senate, as a respected jurist on the Colorado Bench, and as a member of numerous community organizations. Judge Cisneros was a thoughtful and passionate voice for justice and empowerment for those who sought it, especially among Denver’s Latino community. Judge Cisneros and Adelia will be greatly missed, and they and their family are in the thoughts and prayers of everyone in our city.”

Services for Roger and Adelia Cisneros are pending.