Richard Candelaria, also known to many as Candy, was 64 years young when he passed away December 27, 2018 in Mesa, A
Z.
Richard was born March 1, 1954 in Albquerque, NM to Jose and Oralia Candelaria. He joined the Air Force in 1972, where he spent 20 years proudly serving his country. His Air force stories were always on the tip of his tongue and many enjoyed listening to him tell them.
Richard is preceded in death by his loving wife, Carol Candelaria. They were married 28 years before she passed away. He always said “there would never be another woman like Carol”. He loved her always.
Richard is survived by his daughter, Heather and her husband Bryce, their four children, Maylee, Jayce, Rylan and Kyler, and his son, James Candelaria. Also survived by his brother Steve Candelaria and his sister, Debra Candelaria.
Richard was always known for being optimistic even when times where challenging. He cracked jokes at all times, even with the doctors and nurses. He always said he “was here to train doctors”. He never looked backwards and only looked forward, and didn’t dwelled on the trials or medical problems he faced.
Services to honor Richard will be held at Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery. A Viewing will be on January 4, 2019 from 5-7pm. Funeral Service will be January 5, 2019 at 11am.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to Lupus Association of America in honor of Richard Candelaria. Richard spent over 30 years in a fight against “Mr. Lupus” as he called his disease. He would love to have any money you were thinking to use on flowers for his service to go to research to help others with this disease.
We only met Rick once and that was in Las Vegas for a Birthday party for our son-in-law. We really enjoyed meeting him and spending time with him that week-end.
We will never forget the friend ship and helping hand that he and Carol extended to our daughter in her time of need.
Our hearts goes out to all who knew him and loved him as we know he will be truly missed.
Bonnie and Stan Robinson in VT