Gabriel Garcia Gomez: 1931 – 2024
Tucson resident Gabriel Garcia Gomez passed away November 13, 2024. He was born March 18, 1931, to Frank and Maria (Garcia) Gomez in Morenci, Arizona. He was the oldest of 13 children. He spent the majority of his childhood in Porterville, California. After high school he joined the Navy where he met the love of his life and longtime partner, Nancy Gomez. Gabe and Nancy raised six children, three girls and three boys.
As a young married husband, Gabe put himself through college and was successful in several different industries. Gabe and Nancy spent time in Azusa, California as an import/export executive, Mammoth, Arizona copper mining as a miner, supervisor, then safety. After Arizona, Gabe did a stint in Saudi Arabia, then the whole family moved to Greenville, South Carolina working safety in sand and gravel, then on to Wright, Wyoming working in safety at Black Thunder Mine that was owned at the time by Atlantic Richfield. Gabe transferred to Dubai UAE for the remainder of his career as safety/HR for ARCO. From there Gabe was able to retire at 60 to focus on his passion of sailing. They spent time on both coasts finally ending their sailing years in Mexico. After they decided to move “back to land,” Gabe and Nancy traveled the US as fulltime RV’ers.
During all this time, Gabe and Nancy were very involved in their children’s activities and many children in all the communities lovingly knew him as “Mr. Gomez,” their coach. His training in the Navy helped him save the lives of his niece when she fell into a river, of an amateur boxer and a choking baby by performing CPR.
In their later years they moved back to Tucson to be close to family. He is survived by Pennie Gomez, Michael (Bonnie) Gomez, Marci (Mark) Young, Tami (Joseph) Chavez, Patrick (Cyd) Gomez, and Daniel (Dannell) Gomez. Gabe is also survived by 13 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren. Gabe is preceded in death by his loving wife of 70 years, Nancy; and granddaughter, Janise Chavez.
A memorial service will be held on December 13 at 9 a.m. Gabe will be reunited with Nancy at the Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery located in Marana, Arizona. In lieu of flowers please donate to the Alzheimer’s Association.
