Dear Claudette,

Our sincerest condolences on the passing of our dear cousin, Carlos.  He was such a wonderful man who loved you very much as well as his daughter Linda and the rest of his children and family. We will miss him dearly!  You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Emerio & Violeta

Thank you to the others who have shared wonderful memories of Carlos on this site.

He was a special, unique and happy person that everyone adored.

We love you Carlos!  We will miss you!

Love, Al & Leslie

 Carlos, the kindest, sweetest, most respected man I know. His daughter Linda has been  one of my little sisters since forever. She had such a close relationship with her father, so I know how hard this is for her.   Always enjoyed the conversations and times  I had with Carlos. So wise, yet fun loving. You were such an inspiring person. May you rest in the land of your saviour with eternal peace. My deepest condolences and heartfelt love to the family as I know this has to be such a huge loss and sadness for you. May the Lord watch over you and bring you peace in your loss.  

Dearest Carlos, you were like a second father to me growing up...and if it wasn't for you, I would have never met my best friend, Linda. I know you are now in eternal peace, but that doesn't heal the sadness felt by your many friends and family. May God Bless you as you Rest In Peace. Love always, Miki

Abba antics. Joking around with balloons in his shirt. Never forget that contagious smile.

Abba, Allison, Christian, Paul Jr. and Daisy during a visit to Kansas. Circa 1993.

Abba being Abba.  Always lively and full of humor.

Natahala River Tribulations - Part 2: Abba and I both had to get out of the boat at some points, in the middle of the rapids, to un-wedge our boat from the rocks, branches and logs. We both slipped and fell over in the middle of the rushing water numerous times (it’s a miracle we didn’t get seriously injured, hit our heads or even drown). At this point, we have been zig-zagging down the river for a couple hours, introduced a number of bugs to our boat, laughed so hard it we cried, Abba attempted to abandon the boat multiple times and we had gotten stuck on dozens of rocks and debris. We got through the rapids and were finally in the clear. Somehow, we clicked and got things into synchronization and were able to float down the river like normal people.  We were still having tons of fun and started splashing my dad and Aaron with our paddles. We found a rope swing at one point and stopped along to edge of the river so I could swing and jump off into the river a few times. However,  after departing, about 20 minutes down river, we came upon some more rapids. We were asking ourselves when this was going to end, as the trip seemed to keep stretching on and on with no end in sight. This time, however, we didn’t fare so well.  We got stuck on a rock on the last rapids of the journey. Abba and I both got out to push and un-wedge the  raft from a rock.  Just as the raft started moving, I jumped back in (I was in the back, he was in the front), but Abba couldn’t get back in.  He held on for dear life, “hugging “ the boat from below yelling for God to spare his life. He said that his butt kept getting hit by rocks (we laughed about this later). He then handed me his Omega watch to keep it safe (last thing that would’ve crossed my mind in that situation). We made our way over to a clearing on the side and and he swam off to shore. We had no clue how far we were from the end of the trip, but he decided to walk the rest of the way.  The finish was less than a 1/4 mile away. LOL 😂

Natahala River Tribulations - Part 1: On a family vacation to North Carolina, Carlos (Abba), my dad and mom (Paul and Allison Wackes), my two brothers (Paul Jr and Aaron Wackes) and myself (Christian)  went to go rafting down the Natahala River.  The  rentals were two people per raft, so we split up into three groups - Mom and Paul, Dad and Aaron, and me and Abba. As per our competitive nature, Abba and I set out to “win the race” down the river, only to find ourselves zig-zagging from one side of the river to the other THE ENTIRE TIME! I recall getting frustrated, but Abba being the lively, fun-loving and humorous person he was, made the most of our situation and I ended up laughing breathlessly the entire time.  While making ourself from one side of the river to the other, we naturally ran into numerous overhanging branches from the trees and bushes lined along the riverside.  In typical Abba fashion, he started breaking off branches and throwing them into our boat.  We (seemingly) had an entire tree  in our boat at one point.  My dad and Aaron were cracking up, laughing hysterically, following and watching us in all our disarray.  Along with some of the branches Abba brought aboard came various bugs and ants.  When we saw bugs crawling all over ourselves and our boat, we started tossing out all the branches, only to find that there were humongous fishing spiders crawling all over the boat as well. We both started freaking out.  Abba attempted to get out of the boat on the side of the river numerous times, but ended up getting back in once we got rid of all the spiders.  This was just the beginning of a long, multi-hour long journey.  Once we hit the “white water” part of the river, things started to get crazy.  We were both scared for our lives.  Even though I was freaking out, I was laughing so hard that I started crying due to Abba’s colorful hysterics.  We ran into and got stuck on multiple rocks and logs along the way. (Continued in Part 2)

OBITUARY

Carlos C Gomez

November 4, 1931 – June 17, 2020

Kraeer-Fairchild Funeral Home and Cremation Center

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