Tito Mata Contreras

Tito was born in Steins, New Mexico October 6th, 1932. He was named Estanislao, family and friends called him Tani. He was the final child of Juan and Concepcion Contreras. He was orphaned, first losing his mother, and years later, his father. He went to school in Lourdesburg, New Mexico. He joined the Air Force in 1952 after turning 20. He met and married Frances Polanco on February 19th of 1962 in Hastings, Nebraska. They had a daughter, Aileen.

Those are some of the basics, but they don’t begin to give a sense of who Tito was.

He could draw, really draw. He could look at someone or something and put it on paper in either portrait or caricature style. He made cartoons for friends at school. His eye for proportions was excellent, maybe too good, because he never had the same high opinion of his talent as everyone who saw it did.

Tito turned his artistic eye on us too. He had a way of seeing into us, seeing each of us for who we are. He looked past our egos, rantings, silliness, and saw our hearts.

When he first saw Frances he drew her portrait. It was a fetching likeness. He ended up wooing her with food. He would leave full meals at her doorstep, when she wanted nothing to do with him.

Frances lived with her kid sister, Mary Ellen. He didn’t have to deliberate at all when she told him she could not leave her sister, and so Mary Ellen, Frances and Tito became a family.

Visitation was held at EAST LAWN PALMS MORTUARY, 5801 E. Grant Rd., on Sunday, February 12, 2012, from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Funeral Mass was celebrated at St Melany's Byzantine Catholic Church, 1212 N. Sahuara Ave., on Monday, February 13, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. Interment followed at East Lawn Palms Cemetery.