Obituary of Palemon H Chavez

Former Mora County Sheriff, Palemon H. Chavez, 89, of Guadalupita, died Sept. 30, 2012, in Las Vegas. He was born in Guadalupita to the late Jose Palemon Chavez and Maria Esequiel Montoya Chavez. He was married March 2, 1946, in Guadalupita to Maria Elisea Pacheco. He was preceded in death his parents, Jose Palemon and Maria Esequiel Chavez, and sisters, Carolina Maestas and Aurora Espinoza, and brothers, Antonio Chavez, Henry Chavez, and Ezequiel (Teodoro) Chavez, and grandsons, Victor Chavez and Nicholas Weathers. He is survived by his wife of 66 and a half years, Maria Elisea Chavez; sons and daughters, Viola Duran of Las Vegas, Carlos and Frances Chavez of Minor Hill, Tenn., Maria Elena Chavez, of Las Cruces, Connie and Paul Snyder, of Fredericksburg, Va., Jose Palemon (J.P.) Chavez of Las Vegas, David Chavez, Matilda and Rick Scheurer of Liberal, Kan., Jessie Weathers of Las Vegas, and Linda and Tony Matthews of Serafina; brothers, Lee Roy and Osma Chavez of Buena Vista and Joe and Beatrice Chavez of San Jose, Calif.; a special granddaughter, Kimberly Duran Maes, as well as 25 other grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren. He served in the Army in the South Pacific during World War II from Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1945. After his Army tour, he was a logger until 1972 when he began his law enforcement career. He enjoyed a 20-plus-year career in law enforcement as county sheriff and deputy and was remembered as being a great sheriff. He loved spending time in the mountains hunting and cutting wood and tending to his animals most recently his loyal companions Buddy and Rusty. Pallbearers are Mary Jo Chavez, Willow Chavez, Kimberly Duran Maes, Amanda Regensberg, Angelo Chavez, Shane Regensberg, Andrew Romero, and Julian Vigil. A devotional rosary is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 3 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Las Vegas, with an additional devotional rosary at 7 p.m. on Oct. 4 at St. Gertrude's Catholic Church in Mora. The funeral mass will be celebrated by Fr. James Sanchez at 11 a.m. on Friday at St. Gertrude's in Mora, followed by the internment at the Guadalupita cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to: RIVERSIDE FUNERAL HOME of ALBUQUERQUE 225 SAN MATEO BLVD. N.E.(505) 764-9663