Abel Flores

Weslaco: Abel Flores, 89, passed away on Wednesday, December 16th, at McAllen Medical Center surrounded by his family. He is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Hortencia H. Flores. He was born in Rio Hondo, Texas to Tomas and Maria Flores. He was the youngest of 6 children. He is preceded in death by his first wife Glendora Quintanilla+, his great grandchild Emma Marie Garza+, his brothers Julian+, Alfonso+, Antonio+ and sisters Emilia+ and Teodora+.

Abel grew up in Weslaco where he attended school until he was drafted to the military at age 17. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was honorably discharged on May 25th, 1946. He returned to Weslaco after the war and completed his high school education at the Veterans Accelerated High School in Edinburg. Then he attained an associate’s degree in Accounting at Durham Business College. He established his own private practice known to all as Flores Bookkeeping Service where he proudly and diligently served his community for over 45 years. Abel was a dedicated member of the Catholic war Veterans Post 770 for over 50 years and held several positions as a CWV member at the local and State level.

Abel was a devoted husband, loving father, grandfather and great grandfather. He was also a great man of faith. He was a member of St. Joan of Arch and St. Pius X Catholic Church. Furthermore, he was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He served as a member of the Carnet de Cursillistas since 1969 and a member of the ACTS community.

Abel enjoyed hunting with his brothers and close friends. He loved to fish, play cards, dominoes, whistle, listen to music, watch football (Cowboy Fan), and sit around a warm campfire with his family. Abel also loved to take vacations and go camping. He was a planner. He made sure the maps were highlighted of where we were going and the little note pad was ready with the itinerary, mileage, and cost of the entire trip. Once his plan was set, there was nothing that was going to change his mind. He loved to spend so much time with his family reminiscing about his time in WWII. He was never short on words when telling us his story of being in the Navy. He was so proud of serving his country. He loved spending time with his grand children and great grandchildren. He had a love to dance the night away at the CWV bailes. Therefore, he made sure to teach all his girls to dance. He was never short on dance partners when all his girls were around.

He is survived by his daughters Sonya Lopez (Benito), Ruby Gonzales (Fernando), Gloria Garza (Gerardo); 7 grandchildren: Randy, Vanessa (Raul), Heather (Mario), Jerry Jr. (Marlena), Glendora, Mauro and Bianca; 8 great grandchildren: Raul Andres, Daniel, Mario Abel, Zeke, Briana, Ever, Mila, and Yael.

The family would like to thank the medical staff at Edinburg Regional and McAllen Medical for their tireless efforts to care for him in his final days. In addition, a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Kanaan, Dr. Badiga, Dr. Alam, Dr. Flores and Dr. Hussain.