Hector Estrada Ibarra, age 82 of Fort Stockton, Texas, passed away on May 11, 2023, at Pecos County Memorial Hospital in Fort Stockton from complications due to a hemorrhagic stroke.

Funeral arrangements have been made with Heritage Funeral Home of Big Bend in Fort Stockton. On Tuesday, May 16, a public viewing took place from 12-8 p.m. at the funeral home with the Rosary at 7 p.m.. On Wednesday, May 17, the funeral mass took place at 10 a.m. at St. Agnes Catholic Church followed by a funeral luncheon in the church hall.

Hector was born Sept. 3, 1940, in Presidio, Texas to the late Jesusita Estrada Ibarra and Atanacio Ibarra from Presidio. He was the second of three children. He graduated from Presidio High School in 1958 and planned to further his education. He attended Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas to pursue a degree in accounting. After a couple of years, he moved to Fort Stockton after being offered a job in customer service for Safeway Food Stores.

In the summer of 1962, he and his friends went to a dance in Balmorhea, Texas and there he developed the courage to ask a beautiful young lady, Mary Ellen, to dance. They danced the rest of the evening and little did he know she would become his future wife. After a brief 9-month courtship, he proposed and they were married on June 16, 1963 at Santa Rosa de Lima Catholic Church in Pecos, Texas. In May of 1964, they welcomed their first child, Hector, Jr. They purchased their first home in Fort Stockton, and he continued working for Safeway Food Stores, eventually being promoted to Assistant Manager.

In May of 1972, he and Mary Ellen welcomed their second child, Naomi Leigh. He decided to pursue other interests and was offered a job with Firestone Tires and Rubber Company as a Test Driver. He was employed for 15 years before being offered a job back into food retail for Furrs Supermarkets.

He retired there after many years as Customer Service Manager. He was awarded for "Outstanding Performance" in his managerial positions during his career.

Assisting the public and serving others came naturally to Hector. Hector enjoyed staying busy, so he went back to work after retirement and was employed by Sandridge Oil Company as a gate security guard. After seven years, he went to work in customer service for Ace Hardware.

After five years at Ace Hardware, he decided it was time to enjoy retirement by staying home with Mary Ellen and keeping busy with household projects and traveling to see their grandbabies. He was a devoted husband just shy of 60 years, a dedicated dad, loving grandfather, respected godfather, uncle, cousin, and dear friend. He was also a loyal parishioner to St. Agnes Catholic Church for over 55 years. He was known by the community as a mild-mannered, well-respected man. Hector always took the time to greet those he knew and spent a good length of time catching up and included some humor somewhere in between with lots of smiles and laughs. He enjoyed dancing with his wife, family time, playing board games, especially Dominoes and Rummikub and making puzzles and playing hide-and-seek with his grandkids when they were younger. He also enjoyed listening to Spanish and Country music and watching pro football during football season, especially his favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys.

He is survived by his wife Mary Ellen, his son Hector, Jr., his daughter Naomi (Steve), two grandchildren, his older brother Carlos Ibarra, (Arminda) of Presidio, and his younger sister Oralia Herrera, (Fred), of Andrews, Texas.