Joaquin Villarreal Castillo

Joaquin Villarreal Castillo passed away peacefully on October 26, 2006 in his home in San Antonio.

He was born in Darwin, Texas on March 20, 1917 to Simon and Juliana Castillo.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years Rosa Martinez Castillo; sisters, Velia C. Valderas and Ernestina C. Garza; brothers, Carlos Castillo and Guadalupe Martinez; children, Joaquin M. Castillo and wife Gloria, Rudy Castillo and wife Sylvia, Yolanda C. Hernandez and husband Tony, and Roger Castillo and wife Elia; grandchildren, Edward and Christina, Celeste and Annette, Jacqueline Rose and her husband Cris Medina, and Regina, Hector, Joaquin, and Arturo; great-grandchildren, Cresencio Jr. and one on the way as well as numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and dear friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, sisters, Linda C. Ruiz, Dominga C. Rodriguez, and Cruz C. Velasquez.

He worked most of his young life as a migrant farm worker throughout Texas and further north into Montana where he joined the military in December of 1941. His early training took him to Ft. Knox, KY, Ft. Lewis, WA, Ft. Meade, MD, and desert training at Camp Young near Indio, CA.

He joined the 191st Tank Battalion as a tank driver, which took him on a tour of duty to Casablanca, Tunis, Salerno, Naples, Foggia, Anzio, Rome, Arno, Southern France, Ardennes, Alsace, Rhineland and Central Europe. He saw 36 months of combat in the greatest military campaign in human history.

He returned home to little fanfare to an awaiting family in Asherton Cheto, Texas where he met his wife Rosa Martinez. They were married and moved to San Antonio where he started his family and began working at Ft. Sam Houston and continued for 38 years until his retirement.

He was very involved with the church both at Christ the King and Little Flower on San Antonio's Westside. He spent the rest of his life enjoying his family, his home, and his garden and watching baseball.