Yesterday I learned a good friend of mine pass away. While this comes as a shock, it’s also a relief to know he won’t be in any more pain. Cancer hit him pretty hard a number of years ago and he never did fully recover from it. The Mexican blood in him kept his spirit and his will strong.

When I was a kid, he helped me into serving the church. As a deacon for our parish, he asked me when I would be signing up to be an alter-boy… not if I wanted to. A few masses down the road and a few thousand trips up and down the aisle, he gave me (and my friend, Freddy) a job as a sacristan, preparing the church before each mass.

When I moved away to college, and later to Guadalajara, he always asked my parents how I was doing. In 2002, he asked if he and his wife could sponsor my wife and I as we prepared for our wedding. He even gave us the honor of having him serve as the deacon for our ceremony. That was a special time for us and we became even closer. He even told me how his father used to ride with Pancho Villa.

Robert Garza was a loving husband, father, brother, parishioner, teacher and friend. He was tough, but always fair. I am happy to have known him and proud to call him my friend.

I will miss him.

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