Arnaldo T. Loya

It is with great sorrow and loss that we announce the passing of Arnaldo T. Loya, 82, of Las Cruces, NM who was called home to be with the Lord on Thursday, April 26, 2012. He was born on November 16, 1929 to Jesus Jose and Josefita Loya in San Francisco. On February 13, 1956 he married his childhood sweetheart Rafaela Campos. Arnaldo and Rafaela have called Las Cruces home for the last 56 years, raising four children, eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Arnaldo was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, respected by all of his family and friends for his unselfish love, never ending generosity and strong family values. He was a compassionate and giving property owner who gave comfort and rest to many tenants throughout Las Cruces. Arnaldo was a very special man with a very special gift in Spiritual Healing. Throughout the last 42 years he provided counseling and guidance for hundreds of families and individuals who came to see him seeking balance in their lives through faith in his and their spiritual energy. Like St. Francis he loved his birds, and often sought solstice among their musical chirps. Delighted in their fragile, yet beautiful existence, he could often be seen sharing a conversation with his feathery friends. A calm and gentle man, he never seemed anxious in dealing with life's struggles, "Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothing? See the birds of the sky, that they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you much more valuable than they?" He had an unsinkable faith that was like a beacon of hope for everyone who knew him. There is not a person who met or befriended Arnaldo and Rafaela who was not offered food and rest and who was not greeted with love and compassion in their house and at their table. In death as in life he lived by what he believed; love for one another. He is survived by his wife, Rafaela; four children Nellie Garcia and husband Joe, Eloisa Romero and husband Rick, Josie Monta