Obituaries

Manuela "Nellie" Baca Leyba, 103, a resident of Silver City, NM, entered eternal rest on Monday, June 24, 2024 at her residence.   She was born February 27, 1921 to her parents, Julio and Josefa (Arroyos) Baca in Silver City, NM. 

She is survived by her three sons, David Leyba (Linda) of Las Vegas, NV, Joaquin Leyba (Sylvia) of Tucson, AZ, and Max Madrid of California; her two daughters, Cecilia Garcia (Alfredo) of Albuquerque, NM and Julie Medina of Silver City, NM; her two sisters, Maria Chavez of Silver City, NM and Esperanza Silva of Silver City, NM; her nine grandchildren; her numerous nieces and nephews.  She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Magdaleno Hernandez Leyba, Jr.; her four brothers, Tomas Baca, Julian Baca, Alberto Baca, Ben Baca; her two sisters, Frances "Kika" Orosco and Josie Madrid. 

Penny Eugenia Weatherford, 60, resident of Deming passed away Wednesday June 19, 2024 at Mt. View Regional Medical Center in Las Cruces. Arrangements are pending.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Penny Eugenia Weatherford, please visit our floral store.

Juana Tarango de Leyva, de 95 años, fallecio el miercoles 19 de junio de 2024 en La Mesa, NM.

Juana sera trasladada a Tres Alamos Chihuahua el martes 25 de junio de 2024 donde se llevara a cabo el velorio y su entierro sera en el Cementerio Municipal de Tres Alamos, Chihuahua.

Juana nació el 8 de febrero de 1929 en Janos, Chihuahua, hija de María de Jesús García y Emilo Tarango. Le encantaba trabajar en su jardín, coser, leer, escuchar música, bailar y pasar tiempo con su familia.

A Juana le sobreviven sus hijos: Alvaro (Rafaela) Leyva, Fernando (Teresa) Leyva, Alfonso Leyva (Alpha Duran), Elias (Mary Jo) Leyva, Eraclio (Adela) Leyva y Ramona Alicia Ramirez, 23 nietos y numerosos bisnietos; un hermano, Leopoldo Tarango (Ramona Juarez).

Le preceden en la muerte sus padres Emilio Tarango y María de Jesus Garcia, su esposo Juan Leyva, hijo; Felipe Leyva, nietos; Erick y Cristobal Leyva, hermanos; Rita, Genoveva, Leandra, Victoria y Jesus Jose Tarango.

Manuela "Nellie" Leyba, 103, a resident of Silver City, NM, entered eternal rest on Monday, June  24, 2024 at her residence.   Arrangements are pending with Terrazas Funeral Chapels ~ 575-537-0777.

Robert Herbert Jr., 72, a resident of Santa Clara, NM entered eternal rest Saturday, June 20, 2024 at Gila Regional Medical Center with family by his side.  He was born November 7, 1951 in Gallup, NM to Robert Sr. and Jo Ann (Begay) Herbert.

Robert grew up in Turnerville, NM and made his home in Santa Clara NM.  He married Rosemary Ashley on December 23, 1972 and was a devoted and loving husband for 52 years.  He attended WNMU and graduated with an Associates in Welding in 2010.  He retired from Freeport McMorran in 2012 as a Locomotive Operator.

He enjoyed watching the Denver Broncos play, camping, fishing, and spending time with his family. After retirement he spent most of his days sitting outside doing little projects around the house listening to his favorite music. He knew many people around the Grant County area, there wasn't a time when someone wouldn't come up to him to say hello and catch up. He was always willing to lend a helping hand. He loved traveling with his family and found his new hobby at Topgolf. He always talked about visiting new places and traveling as a family, many memories were made.  Robert will be remembered as a loving husband, dad, grandpa, son, uncle, brother, friend and co-worker. 

Ernest H. Lewis Jr, 84, of Hanover passed away Sunday, June 23, 2024 at the VA Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. Arrangements are pending under the care of Baca's Funeral Chapels.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ernest Henry Lewis Jr, please visit our floral store.

Charles Kenneth Mullins (Charlie), 67, passed away on Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Prescott, Arizona.

Charlie was born to Wanda and Verdos Mullins on June 20, 1956 in Holbrook, Arizona. He grew up in Bisbee, Arizona and graduated from Bisbee High School. He joined the US Navy after high school and worked on aircraft ejection seats on fighter aircraft. After an honorable discharge, Charlie went to work as a mechanic and welder for Phelps Dodge Corporation and became a master welder and was widely known for his skills. He moved on to work for other companies fabricating and repairing high pressure gas lines. This required extraordinary skill and was extremely dangerous work. Charlie finished his career as a maintenance superintendent for Asarco. He was a great singer, loved music, and was a natural born musician playing several instruments including, guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, bass and harmonica. One time when Charlie and his older brother Ron were young, Ron had just got a banjo and took it to show Charlie and Charlie started playing it like he had had it for years. When he went to give it back to Ron, Ron was so surprised that he could play it so well, he told Charlie to just keep it and Ron walked away.

Verdos Ervin Mullins passed away on December 7, 2018, in Rio Rancho, NM. Verdos was born to John Tolbert and Honor Elizabeth Mullins on August 20, 1934, in Tucumcari, NM.

Verdos was passionate about traditional country music. He started playing a stand-up bass at the age of 12 and by the time he turned 14 years old, he was playing professionally. Verdos played on the radio station KSUN with his father. The band would play Top 20 songs but he would always go back to his love of traditional country. Verdos said, "The band was set to play a gig that night, but the night before, someone had broken the guitar player's guitar. So, I went out looking to borrow a guitar. When I knocked on that door, there stood Wanda Adair. I explained the situation and asked if I could borrow Wanda's sister's guitar." From then on, they were inseparable. They married on April 21, 1950, in Gallup, NM. Verdos and Wanda had a lifetime of loving each other. They travelled playing music together and were members of the Church of Christ.