Dad was born on January 28th, 1947 to Natividad Sapien and Margaret Medrano in Fort Worth, Texas. At a young age, he was adopted by his Uncle Pedro and Aunt Mary Lopez. During his teenage years, dad spent a lot of time with his Grandma Delphina Reyes and she meant the world to him.
He graduated from Burlington High School in 1966 where he was a cross country track star for the Burlington Tigers. Dad set records, lettered and medaled in various track events as well. On May 21st, 1970 he enlisted with the Army and was sent to Vietnam where he fought in the war from river boat and land. Upon returning from the war on March 29th, 1972 he held odd jobs until finding his love for customer service and sales within the tire business, where he continued to serve the community for over 40 years. Over the decades many of dads’ customers became family to him. He was always there for anyone who needed him, day or night, no matter the situation you could count on him to help. Dad was known to call and check up on family and friends at least once a week. Setting aside time on the weekends to make phone calls and/or stop by to see that everyone was okay and had everything they may have needed.
Dad was a classic car enthusiast and great mechanic. He could glance at a car and instantly tell you the make, model and year without hesitation. Music was another love of dads and as with cars, he could tell you the name of the song, year of release and artist/band just by hearing a few seconds of the song. Sometimes if you were lucky, he would tell you a story of where he was or what he was doing when the song debuted and knew every lyric to every song as well. He loved to eat and loved all kinds of foods, especially if it was homemade! You could not come over to the house without dad offering to make you some tacos or grill up some meat. From the time dad was young, he had a love for dogs. He loved his dogs and when you would call him at home to see what he was up to, he would often say that he was just “hanging with the posse” or “watching a movie with the guys”, which meant he was with the dogs.
He is preceded in death by his mother Margaret, father Natividad, dad Pedro Lopez, sister Rosemary Morales and grandmother Delphina Reyes. He is survived by his children, Micheal Sapien, Joseph (daughter-in-law Johanna) Torres, Renee (son-in-law Jaime) Sapien-Portillo and Julie Torres. His beloved grandchildren Ruben Villalobos, Abel, Joseph and Anabella Portillo and mom Mary Lopez.
Our dad will be greatly missed by so many in the community. Everyone he met was an instant friend. We will never forget his laugh, dad jokes, loving (and funny) nicknames he gave everyone and the wonderful stories. Our hope is that you also have those great memories to hold on to.
