The Mass of the Resurrection for Dr. Candido Tafoya, 89, of Portales, will be celebrated at 10:00 AM, Mon., Oct. 3, 2022 by Fr. Sotero Sena at St. Helen Catholic Church. The Rosary will precede the Mass at 9:00 AM.  Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Antonio Salas, Joe Cordova, Joey Dordoni, Ralph Sena, Faustin Sena and Robert De Los Santos serving as pallbearers. All of his former students will be honorary pallbearers. The family requests that those desiring to make memorial contributions direct them to the Candido Tafoya Scholarship Fund in Memory of his son, Ronnie Tafoya, c/o ENMU Foundation.

Candido Tafoya was born June 29, 1933 in Corona, NM to the home of Librada (Montoya) and Procopio Tafoya and died Wed., Sept. 28, 2022 in Lubbock, TX. His early years were lived in the Corona area, and he graduated from Corona High School in 1952. Following his graduation, he joined the US Air Force and served in Korea during the Korean Conflict. Upon his discharge in 1956, he resumed his education at Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in 1959 in Spanish and Foreign Languages. Upon his graduation, he began teaching Spanish and Biology at Santa Rosa High School.  During this time, he commuted back to Las Vegas to finish a Master’s Degree which he completed in 1966. On June 11, 1962, in Santa Rosa, he was married to Isabel Sena.

In 1967, the family moved to Carlsbad, where he taught Spanish at Eisenhower Junior High School. During the 1969-70 school year he was an instructor at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. In the fall of 1970 he began teaching Spanish and Literature at Eastern New Mexico University. In 1986, he completed his PhD in Foreign Languages and Literature from Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX. Dr. Tafoya taught at Eastern until his retirement in 1994, but continued to act as an Adjunct Professor for several more years.

For relaxation, Dr. Tafoya enjoyed playing the accordion. His yard was his pride and joy, and he was able to continue taking care of it until very recently. He enjoyed watching sports, especially when the Dallas Cowboys were playing. In 2014, Dr. Tafoya suffered a stroke, but fortunately it mainly slowed him down. He was a member of St. Helen Catholic Church.

Dr. Tafoya is survived by Isabel, his wife of more than 60 years of their home; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Robert Tafoya and Thomas and Shirley Tafoya of Portales; two grandchildren, Celeste (Justin) Jones of El Paso, TX and Taylor (Joey) Dordoni of St. Louis, MO; a former daughter-in-law, Terri Tafoya of Midland, TX;  a brother, Tom Tafoya of Bakersfield, CA; a niece, Laura Montoya of Roswell, NM and a nephew, Herman Martinez of FL. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Albert Trujillo, a sister, Eva Martinez and a son, Ronnie Tafoya who died in 2010.

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