Pete Amaya, Jr.

Pete was preceded in death by his parents, Pete Amaya (1999) and Aurora De La Cruz (2005), as well as his sister Oralia Amaya (1997) and paternal grandparents Perfecto Amaya & Augustina Villanueva and maternal grandparents Ruben De La Cruz & Amelia Salgado.

From the time he was in 7th grade, Pete was always a hard worker, helping his father with the family business of hauling cantaloupe and watermelon across multiple towns in Texas. In High School, he started working at Sonny Maldonado’s grocery store and even tried his hand at playing the Tuba in the High School Band. After graduating High School in 1969, Pete left Carrizo Springs to attend San Antonio Community College and after a year there, moved back to Carrizo for a brief time before making his way to the Dallas metroplex in 1971 to continue, what would be, an exceptionally long and proud career in grocery produce. Two short years after moving to Dallas, Pete met the love of his life, Esther, and they were married on July 5, 1974. The following year, they gave birth to their first child, Priscilla and in 1978 they moved their family to Gilmer, TX and it was there they had two more children, Christina & Pete III. In 1980 they made the decision to move back to Dallas where Pete joined the Simon David/Tom Thumb family and worked for the next 28 years. His tenure in the grocery business saw numerous awards and recognition, including multiple years winning produce manage of the year. He took extreme pride in his work and was constantly recognized for that. He retired initially in 2008, but being the hard worker he was, went back to the grocery business in 2012, but this time with Sprouts. Due to health reasons, he fully retired in 2018.

During his free time, Pete enjoyed watching the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, playing golf (he was constantly in charity golf tournaments), doing yard work (he always had a beautiful yard), watching his grandchildren play sports, and spending as much time on and around computers as he could. His Catholic faith was something he held near and dear to his heart and he was heavily involved in the Knights of Columbus and at one point was the Grand Knight of Council 3460 and won Knight of the Year multiple times.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Esther Montelongo Amaya, Siblings; Angie Torres, Dora Ruiz, Ruben Amaya, Guadalupe De Leon & Jaime Amaya, Children; Priscilla Lopez and spouse Juan Lopez, Christina Luna, Pete Amaya III, and wife Chelsea Amaya, Grandchildren; Adriana Amaya, Araceli Luna, Jasmine Lopez, Alijah Luna, Mauriceza Wilson, and Christian Amaya, Great Grandchildren; Aniyah Noble, Ashtyn Noble, and Amelia Puente as well as numerous extended family and close friends.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.beanmasseyburge.com for the Amaya family.