Andres Contreras

Andres M Contreras, 88, of Clifton, entered into eternal rest on July 10, 2012. He was born on November 11, 1923 in La Mesilla, NM to Anastacio Contreras and Maria Marquez Contreras. Andres was a long time member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Clifton; and spent 10 years teaching CYM classes. He was very involved in the community acting as PTA President, Little League coach and Treasurer for Beneficio Propio for 24 years. He worked as a grader operator for Phelps Dodge for 41 years and was a member of the International Operating Engineers. While working for PD he completed the Dale Carnegie course and earned the Safety Excellence award. The day he retired from PD he bought his own grader and continued to work for many years; during that time he developed many of the lots in Verde Lee and Loma Linda. In his younger years he loved to ride his Harley Davidson. He enjoyed camping and fishing with his family and he painted many cars with his son Andy. One of his passions was gardening. Over the years he planted 20 trees in his yard, each of which bore some sort of fruit or nut. The day he met his future wife, Angie, was one of the greatest days of his life. On August 6th of this year he and Angie would have celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary together. In those 64 years, the births of his son and daughter brought many joyful and memorable days. Andres is preceded in death by his parents; his sisters, Eulalia Paez, Lydia Alvillar, Juanita Lujan and Amelia Maldonado; and his brothers, Leo Contreras, Mauricio Contreras, Thomas Contreras, and Anastacio Contreras. He is survived by his wife Angie; his son Andy (Cathy) Contreras; his daughter Carol (Dennis) Snodgrass; numerous nieces and nephews; grand children, Philip (Summers) Pena, Desiree Pena, Andy M. Pena, Rocky Contreras, and Elena (Joe) Blas; great-grandchildren, Marcus Pena, Sophia Pena, and Rosa Pena.