Carlos M. Garcia

The youngest of 11 children, Carlos became a tailor’s apprentice with his godfather at the age of 13 and moved to Mexico City to live with his sister following the death of his mother shortly thereafter. He married and had two children, a daughter and a son, in the mid-1950s and moved to Nogales, Sonora where he had been told there was a need for tailors of his caliber. He proved to be a master of the craft and while in Nogales, met a prominent area Phoenix doctor that brought him to the Valley to become his personal tailor.

He immigrated his family from Mexico City in 1964 and his third child, a daughter, was born in Phoenix shortly thereafter. He eventually met a respected tailor in Scottsdale who furthered his craft and taught him the art if pattern making. Carlos created bespoke, custom suits for many Valley politicians, members of the Phoenix Suns and other esteemed members of the community throughout his career. In addition, Carlos served as head tailor at Sears and at Diamond’s, which would eventually become Dillards, and opened his own shops along the way. “Carlos’s Custom Tailors” on Central Ave. and Colter was a fixture in the Valley in the early 1970s. In 1975 Carlos met and married Marcella Munoz and they had a daughter, Annabelle in 1977 (now deceased).

He eventually left the area retail stores and worked out of his home tailor shop in the West Valley continuing to create custom clothes and alterations. Carlos developed Alzheimers in 2004 and served the last years of his life in hospice care. He is survived by his wife Marcella, three living children, Olga, Carlos and Patty, five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Family will receive friends, Friday, September 13th from 6-8pm at A.L. Moore Grimshaw Mortuary, 710 W. Bethany Home Rd. in Phoenix. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, September 14 at 1pm, also at A.L. Moore Grimshaw.