Robert Aragon Obituary

Durango resident Robert Aragon died Sunday, June 2, 2013, in Durango. He was 87.

Mr. Aragon was born to Edwardo and Aruelia Aragon on Jan. 10, 1926, in Cuba, N.M. He was one of nine children. He attended Cuba schools through the eighth grade and worked for his dad on the family ranch herding sheep.

Mr. Aragon was drafted into the Army in March 1944. After basic training in Little Rock, Ark., he served as a telephone operator with the 100th Infantry Division, Battery D379. He was awarded a Bronze Star; the European, African and Middle Eastern ribbons; the Good Conduct and Victory medals; and two Purple Hearts. Wounded in the right knee and foot at Phalsbourg, Germany (now France), he was treated at a military hospital in France for 15 days. He returned to his unit and was honorably discharged in April 1946.

After the war, Mr. Aragon returned to the family ranch for a while, then moved to Durango.

On July 30, 1949, he married Cecelia Atencio in Bernalillo, N.M.

For 23 years, Mr. Aragon worked for Walter Hill on the dairy farm at Florida Mesa. In 1973, he took a job as a groundskeeper at Fort Lewis College; he retired in 1996. Mr. Aragon worked part-time for John Brittain as a service-station attendant in the evenings.

"He was a hardworking man," his son Roberto Aragon Jr. said. "He basically lived for his family. He had hundreds of friends who respected him for going above and beyond."

He enjoyed fishing with his grandsons and watching them play ball.

Mr. Aragon was preceded in death by his son Tomas Aragon.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Cecelia Aragon of Durango; sons, Roy Aragon of Durango and Roberto Aragon Jr. of Phoenix; daughters, Mandy Holgate of Durango, Mary DeGuelle of Craig and Bobbie McMurtry of Sundale, Calif.; sisters, Pablita Lucero of Cañon, N.M., Guadalupita Garcia of Los Lunas, N.M., and Sarafina Truijllo of Red River, Wyo.; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Visitation will take place from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at Hood Mortuary Chapel, 1261 East Third Ave. A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 254 East Fifth Ave. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 6, 2013, also at Sacred Heart. The Rev. Joseph Gallegos will be the celebrant. Burial will occur at Greenmount Cemetery in Durango.