Reynaldo Villarreal Sr.

Our Father, Reynaldo Villarreal Sr., (The King - as we called him), was a man of strong convictions and beliefs. The strongest of his beliefs were his faith and family. In fact, after reading Romans 1:17 together with our Mother, Rosalinda, "This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life,” he stated to her that his two greatest accomplishments in life were his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and his family. This was lived out by our Father.

Our Father met his one true love, our Mother, Rosalinda, when they were teenagers. He would often tell the story of how he was passing by a photography studio when he noticed our Mother's photo in the store window. In his true resolute form, he decided he would meet her. When he met our Mother, in 9th grade, she would be wearing a lavender sweater, a purple pleated skirt, bobby socks and saddle shoes. Our Father never forgot what she was wearing the first time he met her. The rest is, as they say, history. They went on to marry and have five children.

Of course, our Father had a career, depending on how far back you go with our Father, you either called him the “Pepsi Man” or the “Coke Man”. But his career was far from the most important thing in his life.

Two of his favorite scriptures reveal those things which were most important to our Father. "As for me and my household we shall serve the Lord" Joshua 24:2, and "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is" Proverbs 23:7. These were scriptures which emulated his life.

Every time the church doors were open - Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday evening - we were there at church. Our Father was actively involved in our youth group with us, as he and our Mother were chaperones on our yearly youth group trips to Six Flags or Astroworld. He was not only a deacon and elder in our church, but also taught Bible study. It was extremely important to him to look to the Bible for answers to daily problems in life and to pray about any and all issues. From the time we were small and even as grown adults, we went to our Father with any issues or struggles and looked to him for strength and wisdom.

Our Father loved his family and especially loved any and all family celebrations - birthdays, holidays, weddings, anniversaries. And, if there was music, our Father would be in the middle of the dance floor dancing. As a family, we came to have family "songs". One of our favorite family songs, "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You", was also the song he dedicated to our Mother every anniversary. "Shout" was played at every wedding or family event where there was music. And, as a large family, all the kids, grandkids and even great grandkids would sing and jump at the top of our lungs with our Father in the middle of the dance floor.

But, the love our Father had for his immediate family didn't stop there. There is a long list of family members that our Father and Mother "took in" at various times in our lives. There are countless cousins who consider our Father and Mother their second parents or grandparents because of the amount of time they spent at our house. With five kids of his own, our Father did not need to open our home this way. But, he did. He was full of love, compassion and generosity and shared it openly and freely.

There are many here today that could give countless examples of the way our Father loved them, cared for them and offered his support and wisdom.

For all of that were counseled by my father, had weekly breakfast with him, talked for endless hours about your personal grief and issues, and even those who went to play the slots with him, he loved you and deeply cared for you. He truly loved listening to you, sharing his wisdom and praying for you.

The biggest loss our Father suffered was the passing of our brother, Reynaldo Villarreal Jr. (Baby Rey). The passing of our brother broke his heart in a way that he once stated, "could never fully be explained" and a "hole that could never be filled". Our only solace in our Father's passing is that he is in heaven with our brother - arm in arm - watching over us now. Together they are the presence of the Lord in a glory we cannot imagine.

Our Father, Reynaldo Villarreal Sr., was preceded in death by his parents Sara Rodriguez and Daniel Villarreal Sr. Of course, he was also preceded in death by our brother, Reynaldo Villarreal Jr., Baby Rey. Daniel Villarreal Jr (wife - Dodi), his eldest brother, also preceded him in death.

Reynaldo Villarreal is survived by his wife, Rosalinda Villarreal and daughters, Jeanette Villarreal Schlenker, Gina Molina, Tina Gonzales and Melissa Enriquez and son in laws George Enriquez and Michael Gonzales. He is further survived by his grandchildren Mellanie Molina, Joe Michael Molina, Lauren Gonzales Lakis, Lexi Gonzales, Jessica Espinoza, Marina Rey Espinoza, Mabry Schlenker, Christian Schlenker, Adelle Schlenker and great grandchildren Michael Molina, Sunny Kline, Coco Kline, Carson Rey Espinoza, Ellie Molina, Crew Jerome Lakis and John Luke Rebolloso.

Reynaldo Villarreal's surviving siblings are Abel Villareal (wife - Margaret), Joe Villarreal (wife - Susie), Julian Villarreal (wife - Lucy), Rudy Villarreal (wife - Marie), Mary Lou Contreras (husband - Vincent), Grace Ehsani, Sara Diaz (husband - Paul), Dianna Bowser, Gloria Rivera, Janie Villarreal, Arthur Villarreal (wife – Tammy), Richard Villarreal (wife – Yeni) and David Villareal.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that our Father was also survived by his “second son”, John Paul Zamora. While growing up, our cousin John Paul was a fixture at our house. After our brother died, John Paul literally stepped in and became our Father’s second son. In addition, for many years of our life, our Father and Mother helped raise Davetta Martinez, who, to this day, is treated as a sister in our family and by our Father and Mother.

Of course, if you knew our Father, you knew the other love of his life was his cat, Pappas. Pappas is trying to figure out what to do without our Father, just like the rest of us.

Reynaldo Villarreal Sr., is, finally, survived by all the nephews and nieces (our cousins) of our Father. Please know that my Father will be looking down on you and affectionately remembers all the trips to Walgreens for candy and toys. That made him so happy. He loved having a special nickname for each you. You have survived him and our prayer is that you carry on the “Uncle Rey” tradition. And, as you grew older and he was still there for you with his wisdom and strength, please know that was one of his greatest joys, to be able to be there for his nephews and nieces. His heart was larger than life and was willing to share until God called him home.

Thank you for celebrating the life of our Father with us. His life and legacy will always be remembered, but more than anything his “Circle of Love” and wisdom will be passed down through our family for generations.

Jeanette, Gina, Tina and Melissa

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldenforestoaks.com for the Villarreal family.