Alonzo E Gallegos

Alonzo Gallegos was born in Alamosa, Colorado on October 8, 1925 in a house on the banks of the Rio Grande River that he shared with eight brothers and one sister. After herding sheep for a few years, Al went out west to help build Liberty ships during WWII and eventually earned his barber’s license in Southern California. It wasn’t enough for Al to just work for someone else – he eventually became manager of the barber shop in Los Angeles’ busy Greyhound depot where he also taught himself Spanish by conversing with his customers and co-workers. He and his wife Connie were together for over 73 years. They were blessed with two children – Paula and Bobby (who died tragically in 1979). When Al finally owned his own shop in Gardena, CA, he thought nothing of working seven days a week to provide for his family but work didn’t keep Al from fishing trips to Ensenada where he loved teaching his children, son-in-law and three grand-children (who called him Poppa) the art of deep-sea fishing as well as lake and stream fishing. Al was an avid, self-taught student of history and geography. He loved camping with his family and also mastered the art of relaxing on ocean cruises around the world. Al and Connie eventually moved to Northern California and lived in Lake Tahoe for awhile before finally settling in Placerville, CA to be near their daughter Paula, son-in-law Joe and grand-kids who were always just a few hours away by car. Al’s wife, daughter, son-in-law and grand-children, the loves of his life, were with him when he died peacefully at Folsom Mercy hospital on Sunday, July 28 at age 93 after a life of total devotion to his family and his work.