Jose Luis Perez Jr.

In the morning of February 6th 2015 at approximately 5 A.M., Pepito passed away in his room at home surrounded by his loving family. He had just turned 52 years old several weeks before. Pepito was born in the town of San Antonio, TX on January 19th 1963. He was the 1st child, and first son of Yolanda and Jose Perez, Sr. The cheerful and loving character everyone had known him for, started as a very young man with an everlasting fiery and persistent personality. He lovingly helped and played with all those he could reach his arms with, friends and family young and old. Loved to sing, loved to dance, loved to have a good time. He never had a specific preference for music; he loved any songs he could dance and sing to. Throughout time, everyone came to know Pepe as the guy to have always taken the first step, never afraid, and never reluctant. He was also an incredibly intuitive human being. These beautiful qualities enabled him to experience and accomplish absolutely everything he had his mind set on, without failure. Some knew Pepe as a very good foosball player, others knew him as a very good dart player. He would take his two sons Pepito and Luisito bowling all the time and began to love the game like them. His competitive nature was admired by his sons and everyone alike. Pepito was an avid Dallas Cowboys fan; he loved the team with all of his heart. He would always scream, shout and yell expressing his dear love for America's Team and the sport of football. He never missed watching a game. His fiery spirit would show, every time the Cowboys made a touchdown. Pepito also loved the sport of boxing dearly. He was present at various notable fights, and collected a pair of boxing gloves signed by one of his favorite fighters, Oscar de La Hoya. As much love Pepe had for the Cowboys and boxing, he also had an unconditional love for his cars. The very first car he had was a 1979 Z28 Camaro. He came to have a stunning collection later on; four C5 Corvettes, one of them being a very limited 50th anniversary edition, his elegant Cadillac XLR built on a Corvette frame and a rare two-door red Chevy SSR pickup. He would always be taking care of and marveling at his treasures.To his employees, Don Pepe was el mero mero. Pepe built his empire of around 12-15 Mexican fast-food locations throughout Dallas and Fort Worth, TX named Parrilla Tacos, and the restaurant he established, La Parrillada on Gaston Ave in Dallas. He was one of the first to start it all; sell the original beef street taco on corn tortilla with cilantro and onions. His very first endeavor being under a commercial tarp canopy. This by far was the pinnacle of his life, he built an empire out of nothing, from the very bottom, to the very top. This came to be his ground-breaking work for which he became especially known. His words to his sons have always been, "do whatchu gotta do mijo, only you know what you have to do. Do watchu gotta do". He was never afraid and had an undescribingly sharp intuition, two qualities essential for the tasks that had come to hand for him.A loving man, he never stopped loving his family and friends. Always helping, always prepared, always pushing for a better tomorrow. Truly a man who loved life, as much as the Lord loves him.