Guillermo Olivas

Born June 25, 1939, in El Paso, Texas, to Jose de la Luz Olivas and Angela Mendoza Olivas, Giya grew up in a large family as the eldest son of nine children. His roots were firmly planted in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio, a community that helped shape the man he would become and a city that remained home throughout his life.

Giya attended Bowie High School, where his exceptional athletic ability became evident early. A gifted athlete, he excelled in football, baseball and track. As a sophomore halfback, Giya became the first sophomore to win the district rushing title, running for 1,475 yards. He earned All-District honors and tied for second in district scoring—an early glimpse of an athletic life that would continue for decades.

It was also during those teenage years that another, far more important part of Giya’s story began.

Giya and Yolanda first met when they were just 14 years old, after one of Giya’s Friday-night football games, at a local A&W drive-in. Yolanda had spent that evening playing in the band for Bowie’s rival team. A friendship began that night and grew through their teenage years. Yolanda may have known her feelings for Giya early on, but the two remained best friends until after high school, when friendship finally became romance.

In 1962, Giya married his best friend, Yolanda R. Olivas, at the historic Ysleta Mission. They would share 63 years of marriage, building a life together centered above all else on family.

Giya brought the same determination and discipline he showed as an athlete to his working life. For 37 years, he worked at Cielo Vista Apartments, one of El Paso’s early premier luxury apartment communities. As Maintenance Supervisor, he eventually oversaw more than 200 employees. His long career reflected qualities that defined him throughout his life: an extraordinary work ethic, dependability and a deep sense of responsibility to those who depended upon him.

And then there were sports.

Athletics were never simply something Giya had done in high school. They remained one of the great passions of his life. Beginning as a young man, he became part of El Paso’s rich tradition of men’s fast-pitch softball, playing for decades with El Paso All Sports and competing alongside some of the finest players of his era.

As a catcher, Giya also played with La Tapatia, the celebrated El Paso fast-pitch team. In 1971, La Tapatia traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the International Softball Congress World Tournament, where the team finished among the top three in the world. Nearly a decade later, Giya reached the international stage again, representing Mexico at the Men’s World Fast Pitch Championship in Tacoma, Washington.

His accomplishments on the diamond were recognized with induction into both the El Paso Softball Hall of Fame and the Latin Fast-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame, where he was a member of its inaugural class representing El Paso All Sports. Long after his playing years, Giya remained involved in the sport he loved, including serving on the El Paso Softball Hall of Fame committee and helping honor other generations of local players.

For his children, however, Giya’s athletic life was never something they learned about later through newspaper clippings, statistics or honors. They grew up with it. With the family home across the street from Memorial Park, countless evenings were spent watching their father play fast-pitch softball on the fields that became part of the landscape of their childhood and part of the story of their family.

Giya was loved by many and made countless friends throughout his life. Whether through school, work, softball, family or the El Paso community he called home, his life became intertwined with generations of people who knew and loved him.

Yet for all that Giya accomplished as an athlete and throughout his career, nothing was more important to him than his family.

Giya is survived by Yolanda R. Olivas, his beloved wife and best friend of 63 years; their children, Leticia Olivas; Cecilia Olivas and her husband, Sam Rashid; and Guillermo Olivas Jr. and his wife, Roxan Triolo Olivas; his grandchildren, Elise Guerra and her husband, Diego Guerra; Angelee B. Gergas; Roman Olivas; Alec Olivas; and Ayla Olivas; and his beloved great-grandchildren.

He also leaves behind a large and loving extended family of siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins and their families, along with countless lifelong friends whose lives he touched.

Those who knew Giya knew that two great loves ran through his life: his family and sports. His family might insist they came first—although Yolanda, after 63 years of marriage, might laughingly argue that the competition was occasionally close.

In the end, the measure of Giya’s life cannot be found in rushing yards, championships, years worked, Hall of Fame honors or games played. It is found in a friendship between two 14-year-olds that became a 63-year marriage; in the family he and Yolanda built together; in lifelong friendships; in a home across from a ballfield; and in the countless memories left behind by a man who loved deeply, worked hard, played hard and remained devoted to the people he loved.

Giya’s was a life well lived, and a life deeply loved.

Visitation will be held Monday, October 5, 2026 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm with a vigil at 7:00 pm at Funeraria Del Angel Central, 3839 Montana Ave, El Paso, Texas 79903. Funeral mass will be held Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 11:00 am at St. Joseph Catholic Church 3729 Hueco Ave, El Paso, Texas 79903 with the commitattal to follow at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, 401 S. Zaragoza Rd. El Paso, Texas 79907.