Reverend Adolfo Mendoza Garza, 71, was welcomed into the loving arms of the Lord on September 18, 2024.
He was born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila on June 28, 1953. He was the youngest son of Esperanza Garza Orona.
He was preceded in death by his mother, his siblings Rene, Armando, and Silvia, and his wife and partner in ministry Graciela Cano Valencia.
He spent his childhood and youth in Lerdo Durango, Gomez and Torreón Coahuila, Mexico. When he was 18 years old, he embraced God’s calling and since then he dedicated his life to share the Gospel in the streets, city buses, prisons and everywhere he went.
He earned a Bachelors Degree in Theology from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Mexico City, and was ordained in 1985. He received his PhD of Philosophy in Theology in 2001.
He served as a Pastor of well established Presbyterian and Independent churches and founded many missions around northern Mexico and South Texas, including cities like Lerdo Durango, Ciudad Juarez Chihuahua, Nuevo Laredo Tamaulipas, and Laredo, Texas. Early in his ministry he served indigenous communities in Yucatán México, together with his youngest sister and brother-in-law.
Adolfo was an intentional, dedicated and loving youth pastor, and is remembered from summer camps and events that transformed lives and encouraged many into the ministry. He was creative and had original ideas to address barriers for underserved communities to attend church, and events like food and clothing distributions, like buying his own school bus to pick up people around the neighborhood so they could attend such services.
Adolfo was an autodidact piano and guitar player, skills that he incorporated in his church’s services, and his youth and children’s ministries.
Later in life he became a Clinical Chaplain and served as a volunteer at the Laredo Medical Center. He also volunteered at the South Texas Food Bank, KBNL Radio Manantial, and the Alianza Ministerial Evangélica Hispana. He became part of a home healthcare team where he was loved by patients, coworkers and colleagues. He was a simple man who liked to dress well, enjoyed watching movies, loved the Beatles, and collected watches. He will be missed, but we will see him again in heaven.

Adolfo is survived by his children, Myriam (Abel) Salazar, Josue Mendoza and Eli (Chris) Cano, as well as his beloved grandchildren Jaaziel Adolfo Salazar and Sofia Gabriela Salazar; his sisters Mary, Esperanza, Angelica and Oralia (Gabriel), and many nieces and nephews.

In memory of our beloved father, please continue his legacy and keep on sharing the good news of salvation, love others regardless of their beliefs and circumstances, or say a prayer for your pastors, your spiritual leaders and their families.

Pastor Mendoza will have an intimate and private memorial service.
There are many things left unsaid, and not enough space in this eulogy to share, therefore, those with life experiences and happy memories with him are welcome to post here, or please kindly send them to P.O. Box 619, Glorieta, NM, 87535. It would be greatly appreciated.

In lieu of flowers, Pastor Mendoza’s family would like to invite you to consider making a memorial donation in his honor, to The Grove of Santa Fe https://thegrovesantafe.com/give.html (Feed ONE or the Grove), or the Interfaith Shelter of Santa Fe, NM. https://interfaithsheltersf.org/donate/