Lydia Salazar Wibert
Living To Serve Fontana
Her loving, hardworking parents were dedicated to instilling in their children the value of self-reliance and compassion. Her dad’s great grandparents emigrated from Mexico and became productive American citizens. Passed down through the generations to Lydia was a belief that family extended beyond the front door to encompass the community, that neighbors pulled together in tough times and looked after each other.
Together Lydia and her husband of 31 years have raised nine children with 12 grandchildren. The children are now all grown and several have followed in a family tradition of law enforcement and military service. Two of Lydia’s sons served a combined three tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army. One of these sons has made the Army his career.
After marrying a Vietnam veteran in 1981, Lydia moved to Fontana in 1988 and has been working to help others ever since. She has been a police volunteer for 18 years and worked on countless community projects, even acting as co-founder of the continuously growing Fontana Santa’s Program begun 17 years ago.
Lydia Wibert believes that serving others is what gives meaning to life and she is particularly concerned about caring for children – working for Fontana USD since 1996 to educate and safeguard our youth.
From 1997-2008, Lydia served as a Parks and Recreations Commissioner, and in 2010, she was appointed to City Council where she has worked hard to improve the daily lives of Fontana residents, focusing much of her efforts on children and seniors, our most vulnerable citizens.
If ever there was a person who could pull resources together and get things done, even in difficult times, it’s Lydia Salazar Wibert. She sees her job on City Council as an opportunity to serve – to protect residents, to enhance vital services and provide more opportunity for all.