Santos Cervantes

Santos (Sam) Cervantes was born in Houston, Texas, on November 1, 1920, and passed away peacefully at home in Paige, Texas, on April 8, 2018, at age 97. He served in the United States Army’s Company A 414th Infantry on the western European front in World War II. (He once went AWOL to visit a brother who was wounded, and submitted proudly to being stripped of his sergeant’s rank as punishment on his return.) He also served in the National Guard after his (honorable) discharge. Before his service, he was a field worker with his family, worked in railroad construction, delivered newspapers, and made doughnuts. Afterward, he had a long career as a supervisor at various paper and burlap goods manufacturers, including St. Regis and Moore Paper Company. After his retirement and move to Paige, he had a second career as a maintenance manager with Giddings ISD. In the 1930s, Sam’s older sister Antonia worked with a beautiful young woman, Esther née Quiñones, and decided to introduce the two. They met in Hermann Park in Houston, where Esther was so smitten that she dug a hole in the ground by twisting her foot nervously. The feeling was mutual, and Santos and Esther married in 1939. They had their first child, Sammy, before the war, and their second son, David, in 1943. Their daughter Martha was born in 1952. Also known as Popo, Sam was a charismatic and loving man who was committed to providing for and protecting his family. He also loved to fix and to create things, which were often surprisingly cute. Though committed to his wife, he was an unstoppable flirt, and he loved to dress well (there were always goodies for his family in his breast pocket) and to drive beautiful cars. He always looked younger than his years, and he enjoyed being told so. His sense of humor, which was with him (and his family, for which they are thankful) to the end, could be both dark and corny; he was telling Dad jokes long before they had that name. He was greatly loved and will be greatly missed. He is survived by his great-grandnephew, Daniel Arroyo, 16; his granddaughter Victoria Pierce, 28; his granddaughter Esther Cervantes, 40; his daughter Martha Cervantes, 65; and his wife Esther Cervantes, 96. Visitation will be 6:00pm-8:00pm Tuesday, April 10, 2018, Bastrop Providence Funeral Home.  Graveside Services will be held 3:00pm, Wednesday, April 11, 2018, Fairview Cemetery.