Daniel Jose Gallegos

FUNERAL:  Tuesday, May 10, 2022.

LOCATION:  Our Lady of the Assumption Church

TIME:  11:00 am, preceded by the Holy Rosary:  10:30 am

PALLBEARERS:

Michael Sisneros

Joe Espenoza

Mike Mares

Bobbie Bustamante

Paul Gallegos, Jr.

Charles Trujillo

HONORARY PALLBEARERS:

Herman Trujillo

Thomas Trujillo

RECEPTION:   Following the funeral is a reception at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Lomas and I-25 (1:00 pm)

BURIAL:   May 25, 2020, National Cemetery in Santa Fe, NM

Dan/Danny, born Daniel Jose Gallegos, March 17, 1933, passed away April 14, 2022, with his wife, Mary, nearby in their shared Genesis Bear Canyon Rehabilitation Center recovery room. Dan’s death followed a three-and-a-half-year bout with congestive heart failure – with the last 5-months of his condition requiring Hospice care. Born in Montrose, Colorado, to Epemenio and Arsenia Gallegos, Dan attended elementary and junior high schools in Grand Junction, Colorado. When he was a teenager Dan attended Montrose High School in Montrose, Colorado. At such time, he lived with and helped care for his maternal grandmother and step grandfather.

In his junior and senior years of high school, Dan’s athletic talents revealed themselves in wrestling matches. As a member of his high school’s wrestling team, he wrestled 60-matches during his senior year, losing only one – a feat he was proud of and occasionally talked about with family members and friends. During Colorado’s warm summers and cool autumns, Dan worked in nearby farm fields picking fruits and vegetables, grading eggs, stacking hay, and mowing lawns, to support himself through high school.

Dan is preceded in death by his parents, named above, his two older brothers, Albert Sandoval and Pete Agapito Jose Gallegos, and his younger sister, Ramona Cortez-Cosby. His current surviving siblings include his younger sisters, Ellen Wahl, Viola Torres, and Suzie Hammett. Dan was fond of his siblings whom he had good relationships with. He stayed connected with them as often as was possible, given his work and family responsibilities.

Dan leaves behind his wife, Mary T. Gallegos, and sons, Daniel Jose Gallegos Jr. (and his wife, Elena M. Gallegos), Donald J. Gallegos (and his wife, Lynanne M. Gallegos), and David J. Gallegos. Dan also leaves behind four grandchildren, he loved: Bailey E. Gallegos, Zachary Gallegos, Chloe A. Gallegos, and Rachel D. Gallegos. In addition, Dan leaves behind many nephews and nieces he was close to and himself endeared to.

Once Dan graduated from high school, he worked for two years in a civilian leadership role at a defense military facility in Deseret, Utah. He and Mary married August 12, 1953 – one month prior to his entering the Army. Dan was drafted and served as a corporal in the Korean war. His company worked the front lines with him serving as head mechanic of the tank division. When he returned to the States following his discharge from the Army, Dan began work in Albuquerque as an auto mechanic with Continental Oil Company (i.e., Conoco). Eventually assuming ownership of his own service station, Dan continued to work full-time until 5-months before his 89th birthday, when his congestive heart failure rendered him incapable of continuing.

Dan’s early and long-time mentor through his early and middle years of being an auto mechanic was his uncle Paul Gallegos – his mother’s older brother. Dan often told his family members entertaining stories of how his uncle understood and worked on cars, trucks, and commercial vehicles in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. At one point in his career Dan served for a couple of years on Conoco’s National Advisory Board, providing input into the needs of service station operators. Over time as Dan transitioned from being a Conoco dealer to an independent dealer, he obtained many automotive certifications indicating him to be a trained specialist in state-of-the-art information and serviceability with transmissions, air-conditioning systems, electrical systems, brakes, etc. One activity that kept Dan in the contemporary know about automobiles was his weekly evening work as an instructor, in basic automotive technology, with Central New Mexico Community College (CNM). Dan started teaching at CNM when it was formally known as Technical Vocational Institute (TVI).

Did you know that Dan was an up-and-coming movie star before he passed away? Yes! Well, sort of. Several years ago, when the Breaking Bad TV series was filming in Albuquerque, Dan’s service station was featured in two of its episodes. In one episode there is a scene at the station where the main character, Walter White, maliciously jimmy-riggs and blows up a sports car parked in front of the station’s gasoline pumps. As Walter White (actor Bryan Cranston) calmly but vindictively walks away from the car it remains on fire in the background as the scene ends. In a second scene, Dan, himself, serves as a stand-in-actor smoking a cigarette while watching a drug deal go down. The filming of Breaking Bad at Danny’s Auto Service Station was an amusing (and profitable) experience for Dan.

A man of faith, Dan was one of several local lay leaders in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Providing spiritual support to many in the renewal, Dan was a beloved person. He was well respected by many in the Catholic clergy, local religious communities (i.e., Pecos Benedictine Monastery, in Pecos NM), and the lay community. His leadership skills, gentle nature, and humorous spirit were often well received by those who worked with him.

For years Dan served on the Board of the New Mexico Catholic Charismatic Center, and on numerous Steering Committee Boards involved in the planning and implementation of the Center’s annual Southwest Catholic Charismatic Conference. In addition to the above, Dan served as a prayer group leader with the Our Lady of the Assumption Prayer Group until its culmination in 2012. One ministry Dan headed up for the prayer group was its Prison Ministry. Once a month for several years many of the prayer group members, led by Dan, visited and prayed with some of the prisoners detained in the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility (CNMCF), located in Los Lunas, NM.

A funny story Dan once told about an experience he had at the correctional facility, involved a fight breaking out between two prisoners during an evening prayer meeting. Dan was situated in the front of the room, while the prisoners were in the back of the room. Coincidently, as the scuffle broke out between the two prisoners, Dan’s nose started to bleed. Once order was restored and the prayer meeting was able to resume, Dan voiced to the group, “Gosh, two guys go-at-it and it’s me who ends up with the bloody nose!” Needless to say, Dan made lots of people laugh that night.

As a life-long parishioner of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, Dan served, for a few years, at various times, on the Parish Finance Committee and on the Parish Council. During his tenure on the two committees, Dan and his parish council colleagues worked responsibly to serve Assumption’s needs.

Whether he was in the role of an auto mechanic, a friend, a father, a brother, a spiritual leader and teacher, a grandfather, a husband, or an uncle, Dan’s primary intention with others was mostly about being gracious and helpful. He was experienced by many as smart, available, likeable, endearing, and humorous. He enjoyed putting people at ease by giving them things to laugh about. He was a good person who made favorable differences in the lives of others. Although he is no longer with us in physical form, he lives on in our fond memories of him and in our hearts of love for him.

Dad, we love you, we pray for you, we miss you, and we expect that you are putting in good words for all of us with the company you are keeping in the heavenly realm you find yourself. Thank you for being the heart and soul of our family! Until we see you again, may you always rest in the peace of Christ and the love of God.

With affection and admiration,

Your beloved Family