Juan Nuñez, was born in Cd. Manuel Doblado Guanajuato, Mexico on May 2, 1937 as the third of twelve children. His family worked as migrant farm workers and brought Juan as a child to the United States and lived in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, San Marcos and McKinney Texas. Later as a young adult, Juan continued working as a migrant farm worker in South and West Texas and Minnesota. It was during this time when he met his future wife, Esther while working in the fields of Southern Minnesota. They only saw each other during the summer and kept in touch through letters by mail. After a three year courtship, Esther and Juan got married in January of 1958 in the original chapel of San Juan, Texas before it became a basilica. Juan and Esther had six children, Irma, Joe & Johnny (twins), Lisa, Rey and Mary-Helen. As of Juan’s passing he now has 15 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. While in his early twenties, Juan developed the skill of welding which he used to earn a living having his own business until his early fifties. He passed on this skill to all his sons proudly. Juan worked constructing metal buildings, fences, gates, trailers, window guards and fenders for 18 wheelers. He also worked as a maintenance worker for the Hyatt Regency and State of Texas. In addition to welding, Juan was also skilled in carpentry, electrical and plumbing and assisted all of his family with whatever needs they had without hesitation. In 1965, his son Johnny was enrolled at Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) at the age of 5. Juan, wanting to be closer to his son Johnny, searched for a job in Austin and moved his family to Austin, Texas in the same year of 1965. The family has remained in Austin ever since and has a long affiliation with St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church because of its ties to TSD. St. Ignatius was the only church in Austin back in the 60’s which had an interpreter for the deaf. Juan loved his family very much and showed his love by being there to help with home repair projects, transportation and babysitting grandchildren and great-grandchildren, some of which were highly influenced by him. Juan dropped out of high school in order to work in the fields to help his family financially. While Juan didn’t have a formal education he loved keeping up with current world events and politics and was very well informed. He loved reading the newspaper and had a strong opinion on almost everything. He also loved taking road trips and often took his grandchildren on extended trips. He especially liked going swimming at the beach and visiting the mountains in Colorado and Washington State. Juan was active and independent for his entire life and was always looking towards the future saying that things are only going to get better for all of us. He was unselfish and had such a positive outlook on life. He wanted nothing more than to encourage and support all of his family much like Jesus states in the gospel. Juan was a husband, father, grandfather and friend to us all. Heaven has gained a great soul and we hope to join him in heaven for eternity someday.