Pablo Cruz Pena September 15, 1945 ~ July 21, 2026 (age 80)

The Rosary for Pablo Pena, 80, of Portales will be recited at 9:00 AM, Monday, July 27, 2026 at St. Helen Catholic Church.  Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 10:00 AM by Fr. Francisco Carbajal.  Eli Robledo, Isaias Castillo, Benjamin Pena, Luis Pena, Samuel Pena, Lucas Garcia, Richard Garcia and Robert Dudley will be serving as pallbearers.

Pablo Cruz Pena was born Sept. 15, 1945 in Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico to the home of Maria Del Consuelo (De La Cruz) and Benjamin Pena, and passed from this life on July 21, 2026 in Lubbock, TX.  The family moved to Portales in 1962, and Pablo worked on area farms.  Part of that time he worked on the Sandhill Potato Farm.  In 1996, he relocated to Eloy, Arizona where he continued doing farm work, until he was injured in October of 1997.  Mr. Pena was disabled from that time on, and in 2013, he moved back to Portales to make his home with his sister and brother-in-law.

Pablo loved both dogs and cats, but was especially fond of his dogs.  He enjoyed going cruising with his brother-in-law, Joe Garcia.  They would just get in the car and wander the area.  Pablo enjoyed eating out, but his favorite meal was a bowl of hearty beef stew that his sister made for him on a regular basis.  Mr. Pena was a member of St. Helen Catholic Church.

He is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Pablo Pena, Jr. and wife, Julie of Portales; four daughters and sons-in-law, Yolanda and Roel Robledo of Bovina, TX, Sulema and Phillip Gonzales of Portales, Maribel and John Vawter of Rio Rancho, NM and Yesenia and Jack Dudley of Eloy, AZ; nine grandchildren, Isaias Castillo, Zachary Castillo, Elijah Robledo, Alex Gonzales, Gerald Gonzales, Anthony Maloney-Pena, Johnny Pena, Joshua Vawter and Robert Dudley; three great-grandchildren, Halee Castillo,  Aiden Castillo and Elias Castillo; three brothers, Ben Pena of Concord, NC, Luis Pena of Maricopa, AZ and Sammy Pena and wife, Laura of Casa Grande, AZ; and two sisters, Elvia Garcia and husband, Jose of Portales and Juanita Meza of Elida.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Benjamin and Consuelo Pena, two brothers, Jesus and Margarito Pena and four sisters, Sara Cavazos, Amada Meza, Mercedes Duran and Belsoria Esparza.

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