José C. Peña, Jr. of Pasadena, TX went to join our heavenly father on October 26, 2018. He was born in Mathis, TX on May 27, 1945 to his parents José Peña Sr. and Gregoria Campos Peña. He was married to his late wife of 54 years, Carmen Rivera Peña. They had four children, José R. Pena, III (wife Anna Garza Peña), Belinda Peña Lara (husband Rene Lara), Rene Peña and Irene Peña Weed (husband Jeremy James Weed). They had 10 grandchildren Jose Peña, IV (fiancée Taylor Nicole Howard), Jacob Michael Peña (wife Nicole Peña), Jaclyn Nicole Peña, Jennifer Marie Peña-Rodriguez (husband Stephen Rodriguez), Alexis Peña, Sebastian Rene Lara, Payton Rene Lara, Lauren Rene Lara, Aidan James Weed and Adrian Avery Weed. They also had 4 great-grandchildren Mia Rodriguez, Michael James Garcia, III, Aubrey Lynn Peña, Abraham Rodriguez and Levi Travis Peña.
He grew up in Mathis, TX as the oldest of five siblings Elfida Peña Gonzales, Juan Manuel Peña, Francisco Peña and Leopoldo Peña. They worked as crop pickers until the family moved to Houston in 1961 for a better life. He graduated from South Houston High School in 1964 and soon met the love of his life, married her and began their family. He worked for Southern Pacific Rail Road which later became Union Pacific Rail Road for over 30 years and retired. He and his wife were involved in their church, Guardian Angel Catholic Church and volunteered their time in kitchen and grounds keeping ministries as well as coordinating the church bazaars. He coached the church softball team and held softball tournaments to raise money for the church. He enjoyed spending time with the lifelong friends he made at the church by playing softball, listening to his conjunto music (his all-time favorite Los Augilares) and going to dances. In his latter years, he and his sibling bought a ranch and spent most of their time at El Rancho Gustavo. He enjoyed being outdoors and hunting with his brothers and sons. He was his happiest at the ranch with his wife, children and extended family members. He worked hard at the ranch and made sure everyone else, especially his sons, grandsons and nephews knew how to work hard at the ranch. He took pride in his family yet made everyone feel welcome in his presence whether they were family or not. He shared his wise life lessons with anyone that would listen and always wanted to know where you were from and where your parents were from as he was always curious of the history of family ancestry.
Dad was a loving husband to our Mom. He showed us the meaning of marriage by loving our Mom, being faithful and spending everyday with her especially during her illness and never leaving her side. He was always there for us and taught us to love God, to always take care of each other regardless of our differences and always have faith.
Our dad was a simple man, but he was the richest man we knew. A part of him will always live inside each of us.
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