Martiniano (Martin) Fernando Gonzales

Martiniano (Martin) Fernando Gonzales (90), of Bloomfield New Mexico, passed away December 5^th, 2023, surrounded by loving family.

Martin was born to Frank and Jacoba Gonzales on February 5^th, 1933, in Blanco, New Mexico.

He “lived a good life” as he would always say, and he had many experiences that attest to it, from delivering the Grit Newspaper on horseback, to working alongside his brothers on the Million Dollar Highway. He served God and his community as a brother of the Franciscan Order. He was an entrepreneur, with dump trucks that hauled hot mix asphalt for many streets locally, and to highway projects in Arizona. He also hauled countless loads of fill dirt to many customers in our tri city area. He drove a school bus, worked in pipeline construction, and was employed by El Paso Natural Gas for over thirty years in maintenance and gas gathering positions. A passion of his was farming and raising cattle. He was a hardworking man all his life, and he instilled his work skills and ethic into his boys and to his grandchildren.

Martin is survived by his wife Ruth (63 years married), his sons, Steven, and Matthew, 10 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren, and by his sister, Ramonsita Sanchez. He is preceded in death by his son, Martin Gonzales Jr.

Martin loved to laugh, enjoyed conversations with everyone, and never knew a stranger.  He will be deeply missed.

A rosary service will be held on December 15^th at St Mary Parish in Bloomfield at 10:00 am, with mass at 11:00 am. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens in Farmington, concluding with a reception at St Mary Parish Hall in Bloomfield.