Juan Aquiles Valero

Juan Aquiles Valero was born in Mexico City, Mexico on October 12, 1933. He was proud of his family history, and his Mexican heritage. He had a deep love for his family. He died unexpectedly from a sudden illness on November 25, 2021. Juan grew up with his closest friend, his younger brother, Alberto, and sister Virginia. Although Juan grew up in poverty he always made the most of his circumstances making his own toys and sharing his only bicycle with his brother. As a teenager Juan learned everything about automobile engines and many things mechanical from his father, Juan Aquiles. In 1951, as an eighteen-year-old, young Juan traveled to San Francisco, California, with his brother. Juan didn’t know it then, but it would be there in San Francisco a few years later that he would meet the young woman of his dreams, get married, and be drafted into the United States Army in 1956 as a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. However, before that fateful day Juan found an apartment and work, and had his first taste of spaghetti at a small San Francisco restaurant. There he fell in love with spaghetti and later would share the story of his first taste of spaghetti with his children, his grandchildren, and anyone who would listen to him. One fateful day he took his young family to a new restaurant in downtown San Jose called The Spaghetti Factory. It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the restaurant that made spaghetti like that first bite of spaghetti at that little Italian restaurant many years before. Because of Juan’s father, Juan carried a love of Opera, and Spanish and Classical music with him throughout his life. He would often tell how he bought his first record player on credit, and he would show how far he’d come with the purchase of a first class sound system that he carried with him through several moves throughout California and Arizona. After marriage and children, he bought a home for his family in Milpitas, California. His children grew from grade school age, through high school into adulthood in that home. Juan supported his family as a master tradesman. He was a master craftsman, a top rated journeyman machinist. All of the companies he worked for asked him to work on all the special projects and all the prototype designs. They would ask him to train up the younger machinist, but Juan was only interested in training up his son, Ricardo. He taught Ricardo everything he knew as a machinist, and also taught him all he knew about automobile engines, so, eventually Juan passed the torch to his son when it came to working on all the family cars for his daughters and grandkids. During the Milpitas years Juan taught a Bible Study on Sundays at the family local church. Many times Juan had several projects to improve or expand the family home in Milpitas. He and his children and anyone else he could enlist tackled the biggest of all projects when he decided to add a second story onto their home. It was a project that lasted several years. He was a master craftsman in all that he did with his hands. He worked as a machinist until he first retired in his seventies, but continued to work part-time. He finally retired when he and Evangelina moved to Tucson. His love of music was his only hobby throughout his life and occupied most of his time in Tucson. “Papi” as his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren called him was preceded in death by his brother, Alberto Valero, his father, Juan Aquiles Valero, his mother, Otilia Valero and his son Aquiles Valero is survived by his wife Evangelina Valero Espinosa, his sister, Virginia Valero, his son Ricardo Valero and his wife, Elisa, his daughter, Evangelina Valero, his daughter Ivette Valero-Coggins and her husband, David, his daughter Cynthia Valero, and his daughter, Elizabeth Valero, by eight grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held on January 6th at 2:00 pm CST at Houston National Cemetery located at: 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77038. Reception will be held at Truluck’s Ocean’s Finest Seafood and Crab located at:

1900 Hughes Landing Blvd Suite 600, The Woodlands, TX 77380.