Roberto Lujan passed away on June 13 from prostate cancer. Roberto was born on April 24, 1956, to Eugenio A. Lujan and Sabina A. Sandate. Roberto’s siblings are Eugenio Lujan, Ernesto Lujan, Rebecca Valenzuela, Lupe Mancinez, and Juanita Carrillo. Roberto was preceded in death by their youngest family member, Ruben Lujan.

Roberto attended the segregated public school Centennial School in Alpine, which was later desegregated by the Civil Rights Movement. After graduating from Alpine High School, Roberto volunteered to join the United States Army. He was awarded the Honor Graduate Certificate for scoring the highest academic grade in his class. His sergeant couldn’t believe that a Hispanic could be that smart and accused him of cheating. So he was asked to take another form of the test and scored 100%! Roberto served in the 2nd of the 25th Field Artillery group in Wertheim, Germany.

After receiving an honorable discharge, Roberto returned to Alpine and attended Sul Ross State University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. His peers would later remark that Roberto was the only real talented artist in their class.

Roberto spent the following ten years as a social worker, assisting hundreds of people to apply for basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter.

In 1992, Roberto moved to the border town of Presidio, where he began his teaching career. His goal was to enrich and enlighten the students who shared his rich cultural identity. As a child, he had experienced poverty, racism, and family trauma. He passionately strove to be an example to his students that education is one way to overcome their challenges.

In 1994, Roberto met his wife, Julia West, and they remained best friends for thirty years. They shared their passion for the Chihuahuan Desert by hiking/camping in remote, secretive places where no one had walked before. Roberto was grounded to the earth, and he was most proud of the organic pomegranate orchard that he and Julia nurtured together. Together, they harvested and hand-pressed hundreds of quarts of pure organic juice to sell at the local farmers’ markets. Roberto was most joyful when he shared this rare and exotic gift of bounty with his community.

His appreciation of the land extended to serving as a board member of the Big Bend Conservation Alliance. His vision to connect the community to the Rio Grande was embraced and implemented through the reinstatement of the PISD River Ranger Program and the creation of a trail system that will wind its way through the City of Presidio to the river.

Roberto’s curiosity about his ancestry led him to the discovery that he is a descendant of the Jumano Apache of the La Junta. This discovery connected him to the great- granddaughters of Geronimo, who were writing a book about the intergenerational trauma that their family was facing as Indigenous people. Roberto was instrumental in facilitating a trilogy of forgiveness/ healing ceremonies: one in Arizona, one in Sierra Madre, Mexico, and one in Presidio/Ojinaga. He would eventually extend the ceremony to his family of origin. He also played a major role in the rescue and restoration of the ancestral Lipon Cemetery in Presidio called the Cementerio del Barrio de Los Lipanes.

Roberto, husband, brother, uncle, friend, educator, farmer, activist; may you rest in peace.

Donations may be made in his honor to the Big Bend Conservation Alliance.

Services for Roberto will be June 19 at Santa Teresa Catholic Church in Presidio, Texas, are as follows: Visitation will begin at 9 a.m., the Rosary will be recited at 9:30 a.m., and the funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at Desert Hills Cemetery with graveside military honors.

Services have been entrusted to Alpine Memorial Funeral Home in Alpine, Texas, and gifts and condolences may be left by visiting www.alpine memorialfuneralhome. com.