Memorial services for Darryl Tennefos, 60, of Portales, will be held at 5:00 PM, Sat., Oct 10, 2020 at Willow Bend Pond, 177 NM 88, east of Portales with Pastor Johnny Pacheco officiating. Sergio Maul, “Little Serg” Maul, Talon Sanders, Steven McCaskill, Bradley Ramirez, Jaden Ramirez, Thomas Tafoya and Henry Salas along with all of his countless God-Children will be honorary pallbearers. Those desiring to make memorial contributions may send them to the Pregnancy Resource Center, 1412 S Ave O, Ste A, Portales, NM 88130.
Darryl Scott Tennefors was born Feb. 8, 1960 in Blythe, CA to the home of Frances (Contreras) and Charles Tennefos, and passed peacefully into the arms of his beloved Savior at his home in Portales on the evening of Oct. 6, 2020 surrounded by his loving family. Darryl graduated from Palo Verde High School in Blythe in 1978. On Nov. 22, 1980, he was married to Ernestine “Ernie” Flores. For several years he was a heavy duty equipment operator for the Palo Verde Irrigation District. In 1990, Darryl moved to Colorado Springs, CO where he said he crammed 4 years of college into 7, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in 1997. At that time he and his family moved to Portales, where Darryl became the pastor of the Portales Nazarene Church, serving there for 14 years. In addition to his church duties, Darryl served for a period of time as Chaplain for the Portales Police and Fire Departments. After resigning from the pastorate of the local congregation, he served as a Hospice Chaplain for Kindred Hospice in Clovis until the summer of 2019. In addition, in 2016, he assumed the pastorate of the First United Methodist Church of Elida. Recently he was co-pastoring both the Methodist church as well as resuming his duties as pastor of the Nazarene church in Portales.
Darryl, or Pastor D. as many referred to him as, never met a stranger. He was instantly your friend, and had a wonderful talent for encouraging people and making them feel better about themselves and their circumstances. He touched many many lives in various arenas. For several years he taught Life Skills classes at Matt 25 in Clovis. He and Ernie made several mission trips to Mexico, Ecuador and even Hawaii. Darryl had a heart for service to others, and could often be seen cutting grass for various people, or at the church.
Darryl was a lifelong health enthusiast. He worked out regularly, and was at the gym exercising only a short time before his death. He was often at the Greyhound Arena playing pickup basketball with several local men during the lunch hour. He loved the game, and was a die-hard Lakers fan. He also enjoyed just taking a walk for exercise.
Darryl was a devoted husband and father, and an adoring and doting grandfather. In addition to his own nuclear family, he had countless “God-Children,” that he loved and treated as his own.
Darryl is survived by Ernie, his beloved wife of almost 40 years of their home; his son, Darryl Scott Tennefos, Jr. and his companion, Lisa Redfield of Littleton, CO; his two daughters and a son-in-law, Ariel Tennefos of Portales and Kristen and Johnny Pacheco of Lenexa, KS; three grandchildren, Jordan and Jada Pacheco and Julian Johnson-Tennefos; two brothers, Vincent Martinez of Silver Springs, MD and Chris Tennefos of Kingman, AZ; a sister, Mry Tennefos of Blythe, CA; and a host of friends and people whom he had ministered to in so many ways. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Gregory Charbonneau and Phillip “Chuck” Tennefors and a sister, Cherrie Murphy.
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