Carmen Pastor Arredondo, Jr., hospitalized since 9/24/20, passed away from COVID 19 on 10/23/2020 after having Zoom visited with members of his family. Though heavily sedated, on his stomach, eyes closed, and attached to a ventilator and dialysis machine, family members spoke lovingly to him and about him as a loving brother, father, husband, nephew.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Carmen Martinez Arredondo, Sr., and Inez Rodriquez Arredondo; and by his sister, Melinda Arredondo Redding. He is the older brother of surviving siblings, Edward and James.
Born in Dallas, Texas, Carmen Jr. was raised in Irving, Texas, attended Crockett Middle School where he played football, basketball, and ran track, and graduated from MacArthur High School where he played varsity football and was known by the fearsome moniker "Chief" always playing tough and swift.
After graduation from high school, he was drafted and served in Vietnam as a U. S. Air Force canine handler guarding Tan Son Nhut A.F.B., Saigon, South Vietnam. Carmen Jr. was honorably discharged and subsequently received the Bachelor of Arts from East Texas State. While taking a full course load at University of Texas at Dallas, he also worked full time as a security guard at Memorial Auditorium in Dallas where he met top name acts such as the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, and Fleetwood Mac. Carmen Jr. later worked for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Border Patrol.
Carmen Jr. married Luci Ramirez and they became the loving parents of a son, Adrian Arredondo, whose yeomen performance as an advocate for his father's medical care in these uncertain COVID times, transcended all boundaries of energy, love, and compassion.
Carmen Jr. retired last year as a juvenile detention officer for Travis County in Austin, and was looking forward to buying a quarter horse. Through his mother, Inez, he was descended from the maternal line of Leal, direct descendants of King Ferdinand V of Spain, and some of the earliest Spanish settlers of the southwest. Carmen Jr., was a good and strong man, an honorable veteran of the Vietnam War, beloved son, brother, husband, and father. May he now, finally, rest in peace.
He will be buried in his snappy western clothes and in his beloved Luchesse ostrich skin cowboy boots on November 7, 2020. The viewing for family and friends will begin at 900 a.m. followed by burial at 11:00 a.m. in Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas.
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