Obituary of Vincent - Rios

A Tribute to Vincent Rios - Age 86, October 03, 1934 to July 31, 2021, possibly best characterized and remembered in this endearing excerpt from an essay written by his granddaughter Lisa, many years prior:

 

“..... perhaps the jolliest guy next to Santa Claus, G’pa, my amazingly sweet, funny and carefree grandfather. G’pa was a trooper to say the least. He once wore the tie that my sister and I made for him (utilizing none other than G’ma’s craft closet of course) for the ugly tie contest at church. Let’s just say he won, which lets you know how truly ugly it was. Yet he wore it with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. He once went back to the small country store after I dropped the spaghetti noodles out of the car window and into a ditch (even though he told me repeatedly not to hold them out into the wind), and when my sister’s cat Bitsy crawled into the swamp cooler...who was there to rescue her? None other than my amazing grandfather of course.

 

Yet perhaps my fondest of memories and best lessons were learned from hours of playing croquet with my grandfather in the front yard of his house. When we first learned to play, the mallets were taller than us, yet with each new summer they seemed to diminish in size. Grandpa would play with us for hours in the hot summer heat. He never complained or said it was too late or too hot to play. He played with us year after year and to this day he continues to do so (in fact our last time was around midnight when my flight arrived for a quick visit and we played by the headlights of the car). Grandpa used to always tell me, “Oh Lis, don’t worry about it, remember mind over matter.” To this day, when things get tough, I can still hear the safe voice of my G’pa telling me just that. Lesson learned: Mind over matter; believe in yourself and you will succeed. 

 

I will never forget the memories of sunny summer days in California. Nor will the life lessons that my grandfather taught me ever fade. ....”

 

Vincent Rios, a wonderful husband, father, grandfather & friend....retired US postal carrier and honorable veteran. Some favorite pastime activities included: a weekly Wednesday morning social with friends; playing golf; travel adventures with army friends; attending church functions; watching The High Chaparral tv show and other various fun things. Family members include wife Catalina, two sons David & Ruben, two granddaughters Amy & Lisa, two grand-son-in-laws Corey & Dan and three great grandchildren Ella and William & Miren.

 

A special thank you to Capay Friends Church for the Gideon Bible outreach program in his memory.

 

No services or memorial are planned.

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