Tonia Leah Salvini

Tonia Leah Salvini, 67.  May 9, 1957 – March 8, 2025. Compassionate educator & mentor, social justice advocate, feminist, musician, mother, Gigi, and cherished friend.

A generous lover of life, Tonia loved good design, funky clothes and most of all, people.  She filled her home with beautiful objects and invited friends and students to share her space.  A glass of good wine, a filthy, dirty gin martini stuffed with olives, or a cup of strong coffee – all accompanied conversation filled with love, laughter and irreverent comments about the powers that be.

Never hesitating to speak truth to power, Tonia had the backs of her students, standing up for gay and minority students in a way others dared to.  She confronted police harassing her black students.  She spoke up at community meetings for Indigenous students.  As a first-generation non-boarding school Paiute, she reminded people of how close the past is, and the persistence of social and economic injustice for marginalized communities.

Tonia found beauty in everything from travel, to bird-watching, to fantastic food, to her passion, music.  With tunes for all occasions, she showered her friends with curated playlists according to her mood.  She played violin, soloing and accompanying the organ at Faith Lutheran Church in Ottawa, as well as playing with orchestras, folk bands, and chamber ensembles.

Born May 9th, 1957 in Manhattan, KS to Barbara Ann and Ira George Salvini, Tonia grew up in Lawrence, KS and among dear friends and family on the Pyramid Lake Paiute reservation in Wadsworth, NV.  She was a member of the Yerington Paiute Tribe and the Walker River Paiute Tribe in Schurz, NV.

Tonia attended Haskell Indian Nations University, where her father taught, from 1976 until she was recruited by Baker University.  She graduated from Baker with a B.S. (Sociology) in 1979, then received an M.S. in Social Work from the University of Kansas in 1983.  In 1983, she married Charles Alan Lee.  They later divorced. She began her professional career at the Area Agency on Aging where she mentored students, especially students from Ottawa University. She then served as Director of Douglas County Senior Services from 1987-1991.

In 1991 she joined Ottawa University as Associate Professor of Human Services.  With humor, grace and tenacity, she taught classes in social work, human sexuality, and death & dying.  She led an annual trip to Chicago, where students learned case management, worked in homeless shelters and Habitat for Humanity projects, and experienced the city through a scavenger hunt to expose them to city life and neighborhoods.  She taught her students to look closely, to listen, to investigate the facts, then to take action.  Her legacy lives on in the many former students who continue her good work in social services, and who stand up for equality.

As Vice President of University Services at Haskell from 2015-2022, Tonia used her position to garner resources for, and to protect, students, and to strengthen Haskell as an institution.  She taught students how to stand up for their rights. She represented Haskell in the Lawrence community, serving on a board to advise the police department, as well as in Washington, D.C.

Tonia loved her children and grandchildren most of all, and delighted in buying gifts for her grandchildren, daily FaceTime calls, and squeals of laughter. Her power and force in this world lives on through her descendants. 

Tonia is survived by the loves of her life, daughters Hallie Kastanek (Lindsey), Hahna Lee (Rusty Gard), brother I.G. (Lynn), and grandchildren Lukah Salvini-McAlister, and Kirby & Marlowe Kastanek.

Tonia was preceded in death by her parents and beloved brother Hiram Ashley Salvini.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to Head for the Cure: https://headforthecure.org/donate/ In care of Warren-McElwain 120 W 13th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044