Alberto Garcia Jr. departed on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, after a courageous fight with a brief illness while surrounded by loved ones at home. He was born in Marfa on December 13, 1953, to Alberto Garcia Sr. and Frances Conners Garcia. He attended Blackwell Elementary and graduated from Marfa High School in 1967. He completed high school early and joined the United States Air Force just a few days after graduation, at age 17. After completing basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, he went directly for duty at Beale AFB in Marysville, California, where he was stationed as a security police.
After being discharged, he went back to Marfa and worked various jobs as he joined and served in the Army National Guard. He married Frances Lujan in 1981, and in March of 1982, they had their first son, David Lee. In October of 1984, they had their second child, John Daniel. Not long after JD’s birth, he began a career with the United States Postal Service and transferred to Odessa, Texas, as a letter carrier. In 1995, he resigned from the USPS and enrolled at Sul Ross State University, where he pursued and received a Bachelors of Arts degree in psychology, graduating cum laude, and continued his post-graduate studies at Sul Ross, achieving a Master of Education in counseling, Psi Chi and other honors included. Upon receiving his degrees, Alberto entered the counseling field as a liaison for CPS. After a year, he shifted focus and gained work as a National Park Service ranger at Fort Davis National Historic Site. He left the service in 2005 and began working for Chinati Foundation. In 2013, he exited and worked for the City of Marfa at Marfa Public Library as he waited for total retirement. After retirement, he stayed busy and took a role as caretaker for First United Methodist Church, where he made many friends and acquaintances, and he enjoyed performing this job, which would become his last one.
He is preceded in death by both parents; a sister, Nellie Garcia Ramos, of Alpine; and numerous friends and beloved dogs.
Survivors include his sons, David and JD of Marfa; brothers Jesse Garcia of Marfa (Nancy Garcia) and Don Garcia of San Angelo; several uncles, including John Conners and Larry Conners of Marfa, and Magdaleno Garcia of Valentine; aunt Dorothy Conners of Las Vegas; numerous cousins, nephews and nieces; and grand-nephews and grand-nieces.
Services will be held at Merced Cemetery in Marfa at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 26.
He was fond of a phrase in which he found particular wisdom and always emphasized that, upon completion of his life, it be included in his obituary and epitaph. Thus we honor his request to share these words of wisdom that intimated a profound understanding of the brevity of life: “That’s the way the mop flops.”