There’s a rosary this evening for George R. Garcia, who died Sunday following a lengthy illness, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.
Garcia, the husband of state Rep. Mary Helen Garcia and uncle of Rep. Joseph Cervantes, was also himself an active politico. When John Edwards visited Mesilla as the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004, the party chose Garcia to meet Edwards and shake his hand in front of the media as Edwards stepped off an airplane at the Las Cruces International Airport.
The rosary will be held at 7 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral in Las Cruces. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the cathedral and officiated by Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, head of the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces.
Mary Helen Garcia has been excused from legislative proceedings in Santa Fe this week and has remained in Las Cruces. Cervantes, according to the Sun-News, is returning from Santa Fe today to attend Friday’s funeral.
George Garcia, according to the newspaper, had been hospitalized since shortly before Thanksgiving.
In addition to his wife, he’s survived by two daughters — Roxanne Garcia-McElmell and Laura Garcia de Garcia — and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Gilbert.