Antonio Esteban Gomez

Tony was preceded in death by his parents Eusebio and Carmen M Gomez and his former father in law Manuel Faz. He is survived by his son Anthony Stephen Gomez, his daughter Marissa Anne Gomez, his ex-wife Maria Dolores Faz Gomez, his sisters Argelia Carmen Gomez Martínez, María Rosa Gómez and several cousins.

As a young child, Tony displayed intelligence, determination and inquisitiveness. In elementary school he had two paper routes, one with the Laredo Times and with the Corpus Christi Caller. In addition he was active with altar boys at Christ the King Church and the church based Boy Scout Troop. He earned the Eagle Scout Award, the highest award for boys in Boy Scouts of America at the age of 13. He served as school chaplain at MB Lamar Junior High School. At JW Nixon High, he still had a paper route, and was active with Neighborhood Youth Corp and was in ROTC.

He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business and a Bachelor of Science in Economics at the University of Texas at Austin, where he met his (ex) wife Maria Dolores.

They moved to Boston Massachusetts where he started his Air Force officer career. The couple was transferred to Bitburg Germany where their son Anthony Stephen was born. In Germany, Tony earned a Master of Science degree in Business Administration. The family was transferred to Indiana where Tony was Assistant Professor of ROTC at the University of Notre Dame, and his now ex wife Maria Dolores earned a Master's degree. Later, the family was transferred to Dayton Ohio where he served at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where his daughter Marissa Anne was born. While living in Dayton, Ohio, Tony left active duty and became employed in a series of contractor jobs. During this time several businesses and industries closed in Dayton so the family moved to Fairfax County Virginia. At this time he became active in the Air Force Reserve and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Tony was mentored at a very young age by Mr Juan Sanchez, so he enjoyed working on cars and collecting antique guns. He was also mentored by Rev Paul Postert at Christ the King Church and often remarked he had never seen anybody eat so many tamales. His paternal aunt Mrs Estela Gomez Martinez often remarked the same thing.