Luis ""Wee"" Celaya Sr.

Luis “Wee” Celaya, 76, passed away on October 20, 2020. He was born on November 24, 1943 in El Paso, Texas, and graduated from El Paso Technical “La Tech” High School. He was the youngest boy of a family of 10, which included four brothers and five sisters. He was a Salesman and Entrepreneur in the candy and tobacco industry, as well as very active in the El Paso community sports recreation for over 50 years, coaching and playing on many teams. He was a wonderful and devoted husband, father and grandfather.

Wee began his professional career at Carter Tobacco at the age of 19. He always drove his iconic work vehicle, a White Volkswagen Beetle, and stayed with the company until it closed in 1991. He won numerous awards for his salesmanship and he attributed this to the relationships that he built with his clients over the years. As an Entrepreneur, he successfully created two business ventures that provided important income for him and his family. The first was Papa’s Newsstand that was located on the first floor of the Chase Building in downtown El Paso. The second was Wee Distributors that serviced many of the Albertsons, Walgreens, and various small businesses in the greater El Paso and Las Cruces areas.

Wee’s passion revolved around coaching and playing sports. With four older brothers and many friends that he grew up with in the Findley area, he developed a competitive drive that fueled this passion. He was an avid Celtics, Dodgers and Cowboys fan throughout his life, reveling in the way players and coaches worked their craft. As his sons Daniel and Luis Jr. began to play sports, his focus shifted to coaching. He led the Blessed Sacrament Athletics Association during the 80’s and helped to create a strong powerhouse of athletes that ultimately played for Irvin, Andress, and Parkland High Schools. During this time, he won the City Championships in both Boys Basketball and Boys Baseball. He continued coaching youth and adult teams in the 90’s and 2000’s, leading his teams to Regional and National titles in various basketball tournaments.

In 1972, he founded the El Paso Coyotes Basketball team with his buddy Ruben Sanchez, winning league championships around the city and being sponsored by the Hamburger Hut. They would recruit for their teams by spending Saturday afternoons playing pick-up basketball at Houston Middle School on the blacktop. Many of El Paso’s best basketball players honed their skills thru this program. The Coyotes began competing in tournaments in Albuquerque in the late 80’s, as well as in San Antonio, Texas for the Cinco De Mayo Basketball Hispanic Classic. They would later be invited to the Tommy Nunez Hispanic Labor Day Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona, competing against teams from around the country. In order to attend these tournaments, Wee created fundraisers for the team by having steak dinners that all the Coyotes participated in. His impact on the lives of many men are felt to this day. In 2012, he was honored with a National Hispanic Basketball Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latinos in Action Sports Association of San Antonio, Texas.

Wee is survived by his wife of 48 years Maria S. Celaya: son Daniel (Margie), grandchild Celina Estella Celaya, son Luis Jr. (Sarah), grandchildren Luis Celaya III and Monica J. Celaya. He is also survived by his sisters Bety Garcia of Norwalk, California, Corina Celaya of Temple City, California, Paulina (Gilberto) Ramirez of El Paso, Texas; brothers Manuel Celaya of Mesa, Arizona, Judge (Lupe) Celaya of El Paso, Texas; sister-in-law Inez Celaya of San Francisco, California. He is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Teresa and Pedro Celaya, brothers Pete Jr., Alfonzo (Patsy) Celaya, sisters Sookie (Robert) Osuna, Estella (Leo) Alvarez, along with brother-in-law Beto Garcia.

Wee’s visitation and rosary will be from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Friday, October 30th, 2020 at Funeraria Del Angel Restlawn, 8817 Dyer St. Graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, October 31st, 2020 at Restlawn Cemetery.

The Celaya family wishes to express their deep appreciation and sincerest thank you to all the Doctors and Nurses that provided care for our Father and also to our extended family and friends for the comforting words and genuine acts of kindness during this time.