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Juan Manuel Blasco, Sr., 87 of Zapata, TX passed away peacefully on July 4, 2018 with his children by his side at home. He was born June 26, 1931 in Nuevo Laredo, Tamps., Mexico. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Zapata and former active parishioner of Holy Rosary Church in Gary, IN where he lived for 30 years.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Maria de Jesus in 2008, son-in-law Julio in 2013 and daughter-in-law Jessica in 2016.

He is survived by 2 sons, Francisco (Darlene), Juan M. Jr., and 2 daughters, Virginia Hernandez (Jessie) and Adriana Ortiz; 4 grandsons (Vicente Blasco, Anthony Ortiz, Alejandro Olivares, Cristobal Blasco), 3 granddaughters (Rosa Ortiz, Victoria Olivares, Erica Ortiz) and 3 great granddaughters (Jazmine Ortiz, Llesenia Sylvia, Juliana Ortiz).

Juan was a retired steelworker from ISG in East Chicago, IN. He was a veteran and served in the Mexican Army as well as the US Army (1954-1961). He was a hard worker and a very generous. He had a wonderful sense of humor and loved playing with his grandchildren. He liked helping people by taking food and clothing to those less fortunate. He volunteered at both the churches he was a member of when he was able to do so, he worked fundraising for Catholic Charities and raised thousands of dollars. He volunteered at the Houston Independent School District in the early '90's. He was a mechanic by trade. He was very active in building the home that he shared in Zapata with his wife Maria for 30 years. He had a love for plants. Every time he ate a piece of fruit or vegetable that had seeds, he wanted to dry them out to plant in his yard. He had peach trees, orange trees, date palms, texas palms, lemon trees, fig trees, roses, and many other plants (moringa, rosemary, spearmint, papaya) all planted from seeds on his property.

Funeral service were held Saturday, July 7, 2018, at ROSE GARDEN FUNERAL HOME in Zapata from 2:30 pm to 4 pm, followed by prayer services at 4 followed by procession immediately afterwards to Zapata Cemetery where he was buried next to his wife of 54 years at Zapata County Cemetery.