Mr. Jose Refugio DeLaGarza

DE LA GARZA, José Refugio, age 70, passed away peacefully amidst loving family members on October 12, 2014 in Waco, TX. Born to Napoleón & Josefina Tapia at Parkland Hospital on November 5, 1946, Joe grew up in the Little Mexico neighborhood of Dallas, TX with two brothers, Edward and Fernando, and two sisters, Manuela and Rosario. He attended St. Annes’s Elementary School and later graduated from Jesuit High School ('62) and was part of the state championship basketball team that same year.

Joe went on to the University of North Texas ('67) where he found a brotherhood in the Delta Sigma Pi fraternity and earned a BBA in Business, with a minor in Insurance. He fell in love with, and would later marry, Elizabeth Rogers, a member of the Kappa Delta sorority. A proud US Army veteran, Joe served in Vietnam ('68-'69) as part of the First Logistics Command and remained on active duty for another three years, attaining the rank of Sgt. 1st Class.

After military service, Joe established a long career as an insurance underwriter and retired from the profession in 2012. Throughout the intervening years, Joe raised a family of four sons with his wife and spent 13 years in West Bloomfield, MI, before finally settling in Waco, TX.

Joe loved to watch and talk about sports, was an avid reader, especially of historical nonfiction, and enjoyed spending his time cross-stitching, frequently surprising friends and family with thoughtful and accomplished pieces.

Joe passed away peacefully with his loving wife of 46 years at his side. He is survived by Elizabeth Rogers; four sons, José Jr., Samuel, Stefan, and Thomas; three daughters-in-law, Cynthia, Belinda, and Valarie; and one granddaughter, Mimi.

The De La Garza family would like to thank the care with which Providence Hospice of Waco showed in his final days, and asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his name to their organization at the following address: http://www.providencehospice.org/child-page.php?id=92

Visitation on Thursday, October 16th from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Funeral ceremony on Friday, October 17th at 11:00 a.m. Gonzalez Funeral Home, 3050 N Stemmons Fwy, Dallas, TX 75247. Interment DFW National Cemetery.