Antonio Adan Celaya

Antonio A. Celaya had a bit of the trickster in his soul and relied on humor in the darkest moments. In 1975, when Mr. Celaya, working as DEA agent in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, an operation fell apart, and Celaya was shot three times by a drug dealer. As an ambulance drove him down a dusty Mexican road, Celaya pulled his partner down by the collar and whispered as though it were his final moment, “I think we’re going to have to change the plan of action.” His recovery took many months, but he returned to active duty and retired from the DEA after 26 years of service.

Mr. Celaya passed away in Tucson on January 11, 2024, at age 89 after a brief illness. He was born in Tempe, and grew up on a ranch in Amado, AZ. As a teenager living in Córdoba, Vera Cruz, Mexico he was key member of championship swimming team. He graduated from Tucson High School where he was a champion fencer, gymnast, and an outstanding swimmer. When he finished high school, he was invited to try-out for the Olympic fencing team but elected to join the Marine Corp and served in combat during the waning days of the Korean war. He later attended the University of Arizona studying mining engineering and geology. After his active-duty military service, he worked in mines near Tucson setting explosives.

Mr. Celaya began a long and distinguished career in law enforcement in 1959, starting as a patrol officer with the Tucson Police Department. He worked for the US Border Patrol and a series of Federal narcotics agencies, retiring from the DEA and then returning to law enforcement working in internal investigations for the Arizona Dept. of Corrections. Mr. Celaya’s law enforcement career was filled with travel, danger, and difficulty, worthy of a movie. His friends enjoyed his talent for describing his adventures. His travels with the DEA took him to various countries. In Bolivia he did reconnaissance and contracted typhoid when helping local officials remove drowning victims from a river, after a massive flood. He was an agent on many of the DEA’s biggest cases.

In retirement, Celaya resumed the ranching he loved, raising sheep in southeastern Arizona. He took up writing and publishing fiction in True West magazine.

Mr. Celaya is survived by his wife Jane, brother Paul Amado, and sisters, Maria Byers and Delia Walters. He is also survived by 7 children Sharon Stafford, Antonio Celaya, Barbara Celaya, Thomas Celaya, Adam Celaya, Mary Korn, as well as 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

He will be remembered for his dedication, courage and as a master storyteller.

A memorial will be held on February 24, 2024, at 2:00 pm in the Catalina Chapel of East Lawn Palms Mortuary, 5801 Grant Rd., Tucson, AZ 85712