Earl Anthony Sallie

Earl Anthony Sallie passed at his home on April 16, 2025, at the age of 71.

Born the middle child, of Rita Sallie; Earl grew up in Albuquerque. Growing as a rough and tumble kid with his fellow neighborhood friends and a teenager during music’s biggest revolutions. He attended Highland University in Las Vegas, NM in 1971-75, earning a degree in Social Studies and Philosophy, he then headed to San Luis, CO, to Alamogordo, NM, and Crownpoint, NM. Earl would teach in Crownpoint for 31 years. He tried to make history easy to understand and fun for his students. He enjoyed seeing when his students understood what he was saying and that it, “just clicked” in their heads. In 2008, Earl returned to his childhood home in Albuquerque after retiring as a teacher.

Earl was rough around the edges and was stubborn. Just like one of his favorite songs, “I Am A Rock”, by Simon and Garfunkel. He was a simple man who enjoyed the simple things in life, such as music, reading, and movies. He had a passion for music, growing up listening to many legendary bands that grew from their early starts and first albums. He began to learn to play guitar later in his life. He enjoyed reading anything and dreamed of being a writer since his teens. He loved cinema, enjoying both popular and independent movies. Earl would talk to you about any of these topics with his own experiences and from everything he learned. He was constantly teaching himself something new. He believed that you could never have enough books, films, and music.

Earl had COPD after 40 years of smoking and quitting in 2018. Losing that battle to COPD stage 4 on April 16. He had always smoked throughout his life starting in his early teens until 2018. Surprisingly, he had only a little bit of cancer which he did beat with some radiation treatments in the summer of 2024.

Earl is survived by his daughter Allison Meloy, his son Robert Sallie, his life-partner Gina Sallie, and his sister Jean Sallie. 

He was predeceased by his Mother Rita Sallie, Grandmother Mary Gracia, and brother Mike Foster.