SANTIAGO GONZALES JR. Feb. 17, 1931 – July 23, 2025
Santiago Gonzales, Jr., passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in the company of family. He was 94. It may have been no coincidence that Santiago joined Florence on their 70th wedding anniversary! Though Florence passed away in March 2022, his love for her never waned.
Santiago, Jr. (“Jimmy”) was born at home in Pojoaque, the eighth of nine children of Santiago and Celedonia Gonzales. He grew up on a close-knit family farm in Pojoaque and spent his youthful summers on the family homestead on the Pajarito Plateau (presently Los Alamos), cultivating beans and corn and returning to the valley each fall to attend school. During other months, he delivered his mother’s homemade cheese throughout the valley, first on horseback and, later, on a bicycle that he purchased with his share of the proceeds. After his chores, he hitchhiked to Santa Fe on Saturday afternoons to watch Buck Rogers and Gene Autry movies at the Lensic Theater.
Santiago attended Pojoaque schools, graduating from high school in 1951 as a star pupil, boxer, and basketball player, having been coached by the legendary Edward Medina. As a member of the high school Speech and Debate Club, he took his first ride on an airplane, flying from Santa Fe to Las Vegas, New Mexico, for a competition at New Mexico Highlands University. Some of his favorite stories come from his days working for “E.D. Trujillo” at the Pojoaque Trading Post, where he bought and sold pottery from famed potters, Maria Martinez and Popovi Da.
He revered all his siblings for helping him grow up, including his older brothers, Max, Benny, and Manuel, all three of whom served in Europe during World War II. This is one reason Santiago readily reported for duty in 1951 when he was drafted into the Army. He took his basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and he was sent to South Korea in January 1952. That spring, assigned to the Eighth Army, Third Infantry Division, Third Signal Company, Corporal Gonzales entered Korea through the Inchon harbor and into a combat zone. Within weeks, he returned home on emergency leave, arriving just days before his father, Santiago, Sr., passed away from a cancer. After his father’s services, Santiago Jr. was shipped back to Korea, returning to his unit in the Kumhwa Valley. He served honorably until an armistice was signed and hostilities ended on July 27, 1953. Among his military decorations, Corporal Gonzales was awarded the Korean Service Medal with three Bronze Service Stars, the United Nations Service Medal, and three Overseas Service Stripes.
In December 1951, God smiled very brightly on young Santiago when Florence came into his life. They met at a high school dance while he was on leave from Army duties. Their love-at-first-sight grew stronger even though they were mostly out of sight of one another for the next 18 months, corresponding faithfully; they married at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Nambe on July 23, 1955. And their love, care, and commitment to one another grew from there. Together, they built an adobe home in Nambe with their own hands and raised their family.
To support their family, Santiago spent many years working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, working throughout the Santa Fe National Forest and then later for the General Services Administration in Santa Fe, while Florence worked at Pojoaque High School. He retired from federal service in 1982. He thoroughly enjoyed working for Lynn Blankenship at VIVA Designs in Tesuque and Santa Fe until 1992, when Florence retired. Santiago had many sharp skills but none of them brought him more enjoyment than trout fishing.
For the next 30 years, Santiago and Florence enjoyed retirement: gardening, home improvement, traveling to Yellowstone, Washington, D.C., Birmingham, Alabama (to visit Sister Angelica), to World Youth Day in Denver to see Pope John Paul II, and pulling their travel trailer to campsites throughout Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. Santiago and Florence were the happiest anywhere they could be with each other, their kids and grandkids. Together, they lived their values: faith in God, love for family, (very) hard work, resilience, kindness, humility, humor and laughter, and love for country.
Santiago was preceded in death by his wife Florence Olivia Gonzales; infant daughter Roberta Ann, son Steven Gonzales, infant grandson Aaron Christian Gonzales, parents Santiago and Celedonia Gonzales, sisters and brothers-in-law Maida Ortiz (Ramon), Esther Romero (Procopio), Mary Todd (James), brothers and sisters-in-law Max (Annie), Alfredo, Benny (Phyllis), and Manuel Gonzales (Lola).
Santiago is survived by his children: Donna Bowyer (Clinton) of White Rock, Monica Garcia (John) of Santa Fe, Dennis Gonzales (Maxine Jacquez) of Española, Carol Kuper (Curt) of Albuquerque, Katrina Rupprecht (Ward) of White Rock, Kenneth Gonzales (Jennifer) of Albuquerque, his and Florence’s adored nineteen grandchildren: Sean, Justin, Mary Elizabeth, and Alicia Bowyer, Marissa Padilla, Alana, and Reyes Padilla III, Dennis Jr., and Stacey Gonzales, Cameron, Corbin and Cassidy Kuper, Shanda Moore, Erika Stupka, and Stuart Rupprecht, Alex and Abigail Gonzales, and Kevin and Joaquin Gonzales, as well as their twenty-one great grandchildren. He is also survived by his loving sister and brother-in-law Henrietta Tixier (Mariano) and numerous nieces and nephews.
Serving as pallbearers and honorary pallbearers are Dennis Gonzales, Jr., Sean Bowyer, Justin Bowyer, Reyes Padilla III, Cameron Kuper, Corbin Kuper, Stuart Rupprecht, Alex Gonzales, Kevin Gonzales, and Joaquin Gonzales.
Visitation will took place on Monday, August 11, at 5:00 p.m. followed by a rosary at 6:00 p.m at Berardinelli Family Funeral Service, 1399 Luisa Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
A rosary was also held on Tuesday, August 12 at 9:00 a.m. at Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe parish church in Pojoaque, followed by a Mass and a burial at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.
The Family of Santiago Gonzales, Jr., would like to thank the many people who helped us care for our father, including the staff at Del Corazon Hospice, Gentiva Hospice, the medical staff at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Albuquerque, and the Uptown Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque.
“Rest in eternal comfort and glory, Dad, always dancing with Mom.”
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