Aaron John Peña

Aaron John Peña was born on September 14, 1964 in Las Cruces, NM. He was Johnny and Ramona Peña’s second child, and eldest son. He was welcomed home by his older sister Ivanna, who was thrilled to have her own “real” baby doll to take care of. As a toddler he loved watching the construction vehicles that would go by their house. They lived in family housing units at New Mexico State University, where Johnny was completing his bachelor’s degree. Aaron would sit on the fence and watch the vehicles with excitement as they went by. When Johnny graduated from NMSU, the family moved to Taos for a year, and during that time Aaron became a big brother to Gordon, who was born there.

The family travelled to different cities and countries due to his father’s career. Aaron lived in Las Cruces, NM; Taos, NM; Lake Charles, LA; Lima, Peru; Mexico City, Mexico; Salvador, Brazil; Maracaibo, Venezuela; Houston, Texas; and for 1.5 years in Los Angeles, CA. When his family moved abroad, at the age of 7, it was a huge culture shock for everyone, especially the children. But Aaron seemed to adjust much faster than anyone. Even though he did not speak Spanish at the time, he would go “investigate” the large hotel they were staying in, and would go to the kitchen and convince the chefs and cooks to give him food and snacks for free! He would go back to their hotel room with all sorts of goodies! Aaron had the knack for getting to know the locals right away and befriending them. Aaron learned Spanish and Portuguese fluently during those years. His family lived in Latin America for 10 years before moving back to the US, and settling in Houston.

Aaron’s love of construction vehicles turned to airplanes, and he found employment at Bush Intercontinental airport area. He worked at Avis car rental, Chelsea Food Service and finally at Menzies Aviation, where he would stack, load and unload pallets for cargo planes. He took pride in his job as it required stacking the pallets with proper distribution of weight on the pallet, and then loading them correctly in the planes, making sure all the pallets were placed properly and securing them tightly so they wouldn’t become loose during flight, causing an imbalance and the plane could crash. He knew that his careful work and attention to detail ensured a safe flight for the crew. All these jobs allowed him to be able to watch all the different types of aircraft that went to the airport. When an interesting plane would come to the airport he would take photos of it to share with the family.

Aaron loved his family more than anything on Earth (other than Jesus and his faith). Aaron’s love of God developed him into an honest, kind, and good person that cared deeply for his family. Aaron would help his parents in any chore they needed help with at the house. It was always about making sure that his mother and father were well taken care of, he so deeply loved and honored them. Aaron had profound respect and love for his older sister and would always make sure he honored that relationship. Aaron always put his younger brother first, he cared for, loved him, and protected him like a big brother should; and he was always going to ensure that his younger brother was at an advantage in life (even if that meant Aaron would go without). Aaron was the world’s best uncle and loved his nephews and nieces very much. He always spoiled them any time they were over at the house. He loved to play around and joke with them. He was a gentle, loving soul who loved all his family!

Aaron is loved by his family and will be extremely missed by all of them! He is survived by his parents: Johnny and Ramona Peña; sister and brother-in-law Ivanna and Bryan Shipman; brother and sister-in-law Gordon Peña and Heidi Lofton Peña; nephew and wife John Michael and Karyna Shipman; nieces and nephews Lierin, Garrett, Grace and Luke Peña, step-nieces Hailey and Taylor Lofton; 100 year old grandmother Virginia Chacon; aunt Vera McBride; aunt and uncle Pauline and Lou Bova; uncle Gilbert Peña, along with several cousins and their families. He is pre-deceased by sister Michelle Peña, brother John Anthony Peña, grandparents Antonio and Leocadia Peña, grandfather Alfonso Chacon, and aunt Gloria Chacon.

God Bless You Aaron – “It’s cool man, it’s cool. WOLVERINES!!”