Jasper Vela Castillo Jr.

When Dad was fourteen years old, he was sitting on his front porch and his neighbor drove past in his van and asked if he wanted a job. Dad said yes and hopped in the van. Mr. Ortiz and he installed outside antennas on houses, as that was the only way to get signal to view TV back then. He went on service calls to repair TVs and worked for Mr. Ortiz from 1948 until December 1954, at which time, he graduated from Jefferson Davis High School and joined the Navy. He trained in boot camp in San Diego and he took the Navy electronics test and was accepted into the electronics program, whereupon, he had 24 weeks of electronics school at Treasure Island. He also tried out for the Navy band, was voted in, and played trombone, as he had done throughout his years in the high school band.

He was assigned initially on a small boat, a destroyer escort, the USS Daichenko and went to several ports in Japan before going to evacuate the French from North Vietnam (formerly French Indochina). They transported the French to the Philippine Islands. Thereafter, his ship went to Hong Kong, where he often commented, “had great food and really big beers!” The Daichenko had a stopover in Honolulu and then back to San Diego where he was transferred to the Aircraft Carrier, USS FDR.

The FDR took him to Seattle, WA, San Francisco & San Diego, CA; The Panama Canal, Lima, Peru; Valparaiso, Chile; around Cape Horn, and back up to Rio de Janeiro, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Mayport, Florida and then Norfolk, Virginia. The FDR then went to the Mediterranean Sea due to the Egypt/Israeli war, but the war was already over when they arrived, so the ship went to Lisbon, Portugal.

He was then transferred to a radar boat that patrolled the Atlantic Ocean for nine months. He was offered $1,500 to re-enlist for 6 years but chose to be honorably discharged as E1 First Class Petty Officer in December 1957. He went from E1 to E6 in 3 years, 9 months. He then returned to Houston and attended the University of Houston for 2 years on the GI Bill.

He married Dora Sustaita, his loving wife of 66 years on June 8, 1958. While attending UH, she found a want-ad in the The Houston Post newspaper that read IBM was hiring Electronic Technicians. So he applied and was hired. He was sent to Poughkeepsie, New York. The family arrived in March 1963. He worked and trained for 4 years then transferred to Houston. IBM was developing a new division to work at NASA Mission Control, to install and service the large frame computers. He worked at Mission Control for all of the Apollo Missions and was watching from the front on the floor, looking up at the screen in the control room when Neil Armstrong said, “One small step for man and one giant leap for mankind”.

Once the Apollo Missions were completed, he transferred to IBM in Fort Worth and was promoted to Branch Manager but ultimately, returned to diagnostics and service of large frame computers, where he felt the most satisfaction in his work. He also taught IBM specialists in Mexico City and survived a mugging in downtown Chapultepek park. He retired from IBM in 1993, but subcontracted with IBM, Hitachi and CE Services for 3 more years before finally retiring to tinker at home.

Dora and he were happily married for 66 years and raised five children. Dora worked at TCU, which made it possible for the last four children to attend “tuition-free”. All received degrees and secondary degrees including RNs, Registered Dietician, MBA, and MD.

Jasper was a Lifetime Member of the Knights of Columbus Council 7175 during its first term with St. Ann Catholic Church in Burleson and served as Financial Officer and Grand Knight. He was a member of St. Ann United Families which raised scholarship funds for college for worthy applicants. He was a member of the choir for English and Spanish speaking services. He enjoyed fishing and had a small sailboat for many years and spent lots of time out on Lake Benbrook. He took his family on month long camping/vacations out west and into Mexico. When the older kids were gone he took Mary and Dora sailing too.

He had a life well lived and created lasting memories for his family and friends. He died on June 17, 2024, at home, surrounded by his wife, children and a few close friends.

He was preceded in death by his daughter Diane Marie Castillo. Jasper is survived by his wife of 66 years, Dora Castillo. He leaves behind his children Judith Ann, Richard, Jasper (Kris), and Mary Elizabeth (Tom). In addition, grandchildren Beth (Jesse), Tyler (Genna), Jayme, Rachael (Bret), and Colton. And great-grandchildren Elijah, Nora, Bentley and Eliana.

His viewing/rosary will be at Laurel Land 7100 Crowley Road, Fort Worth, TX on Wednesday, July 3rd from 5pm to 7pm. The Funeral Mass will be held at St. Ann Catholic Church in Burleson on Friday, July 5th at 10:30am. He will be laid to rest at DFW National Cemetery at 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, TX. Committal service will be from 1:00pm to 1:15pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to: National Kidney Foundation www.kidney.org

A video of Jasper narrating his career is available from the Library of Congress at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcpBw1IonoY

This vimeo was recorded by a family member, the spouse of Jasper’s niece.

https://vimeo.com/687516647/60e1380e16