AURORA - Locadio Medina didn't grow up silver spoon. But he could probably make one.

He's a silversmith. His specialty is jewelry - necklaces, bracelets, pendants. He weaves links of silver together, making intricate patterns. He even invented a clamp to help him twist flat wire so it doesn't kink. Think wrought iron, but in silver.

He rises early, starting to work in his shop around 7 a.m. He'll knock off around 4.

"The best thing for me is working, having something to do," he said.

Medina grew up in Kansas City. It's where he started to learn the silver trade - but not as a young man. He is 81 and has been making jewelry about 20 years.

He makes a variety of links - figure-8 twists, chain- mail-looking bracelets, some with ripples. He sets beads in some. Some are plain - but never ordinary.

Before he was a craftsman, he was a laborer.

He dropped out of high school during World War II to work on the railroad.

"It was winter and I was wondering what in the heck am I doing here," he said.

So he joined the Navy, which in the long run turned out to be a good thing.

After one tour, he returned to KC, back to the railroad. On another winter day, he was working outside and wondered again why he was doing what he was doing.

So he re-enlisted in the Navy. He was stationed near an airfield and learned a trade - storeroom supervisor.

After his hitch, he returned to Kansas, but not to the railroad.

Eventually, he went to work at the Kansas City airport as a storeroom supervisor. He retired at 62 and later moved to Tucson.

"Before I retired, I took a bunch of crafts courses," he said. "I'm not going to be sitting in front of the TV, drinking beer all day."

He took more classes in Tucson.

"They taught me chain making," he said. "I liked it so much, I kept with it and kept getting better and better."

He still has the first pendant he made, a turquoise stone set in silver. Each ornamental bead around the rock is uniform. That one's still in the family. He gave it to his wife, Socorro.

But that's not his favorite piece of jewelry. It's a long necklace, a parting gift from students.

"They got together and each one put in a favorite piece of their chains on there," he said.

He buys coils of silver wire. He snips off a length and then cuts that into smaller, uniform pieces. Then he uses pliers to bend the links into rings. He solders pieces he wants to make into more complex designs.

He's thinking about the future.

"What I'd like to do is go to the VA hospital and volunteer to teach those guys how to make jewelry," he said.

Medina sells his jewelry through his company, L&M Crafts. His creations are available at Elements, Beads and Gifts in Denver's Tabor Center.

massarog@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5271

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