Obituary of Noé Flores

Noe Flores, 76, passed away July 14, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas. Service: The celebration of the life of Dr. Noé Flores will take place inside the Botanic Gardens Lecture Hall at 3:00 pm on Friday, July 31, 2015 with fellowship beginning at 2:00 in the lobby of the lecture hall. Noé Flores was a long time professor at Texas Wesleyan University where he taught Spanish, Children's Literature in Spanish, Hispanic Literature in the US, and Humanities. Meeting Dr. Rodolfo Rodriguez was a pivotal moment in his career and life. With his friend and mentor, he collaborated, designed, and implemented a training program for Bilingual Education at Wesleyan. As President of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education, he advocated for comprehensive training of teachers with the goal of helping students achieve strong literacy skills in their native language as a foundation for learning English as a second language. The Bilingual Education that many take for granted today was achieved through the hard work and dedication of educators like Noé Flores, visionaries who dreamt big, and tirelessly fought ideological and political battles in Austin and in Washington to improve the lives of children and their families through education. As a student athlete, Noé earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of North Texas. Some years later, he earned his doctorate from Texas A&M in his hometown of Kingsville. In addition to academics, athletics played an important roll in his life. This scholar/athlete was a member of the Mean Green football team that played in the Sun Bowl in 1959 and years later, he served as the first and only coach of an active fencing team at Wesleyan. His passion for golf began at UNT and afforded him many hours of pleasure with the Pan American Golf Association, with his friends from the Geezles Service Fraternity, and with his sons and brother. "The Rock" as they called Rockwood Golf Course, was beloved to his buddies and to him. In addition to playing at Myrtle Beach and Scottsdale, he finally realized a lifelong dream two years ago when he played the courses at St. Andrews. Noé was also a gifted musician; a guitarist and singer who experimented and practiced to achieve perfect vocal phrasing and seamless chord progressions. With his combination of technique and musicality, he captivated and moved audiences large and small, whether he was singing a ballad, a bolero, a ranchera, or an American jazz standard. To be present during some of these renditions was to be in the presence of the divine spirit of music. His greatest passions, however, were teaching and learning. He not only tutored other faculty members in Spanish and Music and mentored countless students, but he took advantage of the talents and expertise of his colleagues, entreating them to teach him everything from piano and painting to German and jazz guitar. In retirement, he continued his quest for knowledge. He spent hours doing research to deepen his understanding of algebraic concepts, Latin and other languages, World War II history, as well as the complicated geopolitics of the world's most troubled regions. He was a voracious reader who stalled and fidgeted and got up to do mundane household activities at the end of every book he loved, just because he didn't want it to end. Noe began life on October 21, 1938 in Kingsville, TX. In his youth, he relished the summers he spent in Mexico working on his uncle's cattle ranch where he acquired an appreciation for a rural way of life, and learned cattle working and management skills that have served him well in his family's modest cattle operation in East Texas. He is preceded in death by his parents, Manuel Flores and Esperanza Garza as well as his brothers Manuel, Enrique, Willie, and Maj. Humberto Flores, and sisters-in-law Belén Flores and Micaela Flores. Dr. Flores is survived by Sharon, his wife of 51 years as well as his children Erica, Victor, Christopher, and Kristen, daughters-in-law Emma Flores and Karen Rascón, brother Major Arturo Flores (ret.), sisters-in-law Sara Dueñas Flores, Tamela Jarvais, and Laura Simpson, beloved grandchildren Mitchell, Isabel, and Nicklaus Flores, and Augusta (Gus) and Asa Flores-Rascón, his 11 very loving, devoted nieces and nephews, and his many friends and extended family who will miss his company, lively and enlightening conversations, and loyal friendship.