Jose Gomez

José Martin Gómez, 90, of Des Moines died at Mercy Hospice of complications of Alzheimer’s on December 7, 2018. A visitation will be held at St Anthony’s Catholic Church on Wednesday December 12 at 11:00 a.m., followed by a Mass of Christian burial at 1:00 p.m. Burial will be at Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines.
José was born July 29, 1928 in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, the only child of José Gómez and Petra Villarreal. José’s father died before José was born and he grew up in Nuevo Laredo with his mother and his three half-brothers: Oscar, Manuel and Caesar Huerta. In 1947 he met Maria (Charlotte) Rivera, a young woman from Iowa visiting her grandmother in Rodriguez Mexico, and in 1948 José and Maria were married in the nearby town of Anahuac. They moved to Nuevo Laredo to start a family, and while living there were blessed with three children, Joey, Bob and Patty.
In 1953, Maria and José moved to Des Moines to be near Maria’s family. They lived on S.E. Hartford and were blessed with 6 more children: Rose, Diana, Ronald, Kathleen, Gloria and Maria. For 25 years José worked days for the Rock Island Railroad and had a second job working nights at K-Mart in the sporting goods department. After retiring from the railroad, José worked 20 years for the Des Moines Independent School District instructing high school students in its New Horizons program.
For many years, José was a Boy Scout Leader of Troop 227 at St. Anthony’s School where he led canoe trips to the Boundary Waters in Canada and also attended national Boy Scout Jamborees in New Mexico and Washington State. José was an avid outdoorsman and for many years went on annual fishing trips to Canada. He also enjoyed hunting pheasant and deer. He was a self-taught handyman who built two houses for his family and was always outside working on something. Until his health declined in recent years, José and Maria could always be found on Sunday mornings at 7:00 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony’s Church.
José was preceded in death by his wife Maria, his beloved son Joey, his parents José and Petra, and his brother Oscar Huerta. José’s survivors include his children Bob (Gay) Gómez of Des Moines; Patty Gómez of Des Moines; Rose (Richard) Grier of Ankeny; Diana (Bruce) Zuber of Des Moines; Ron Gómez of Johnston; Kathy (Barry Seaman) Gómez of Lomita California; Gloria (Sean Moore) Gómez of Windsor Heights; and Maria (Dan) Kuhlman of Des Moines; 19 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren.
The family requests that any memorial contributions be directed to St Anthony’s Church.

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