Raul Flores

We are sad to announce the passing of Raul F. Flores (Big Rudy) of Rotan, Tx. He passed away at the age of 62 on July 30th, 2022 at Fisher County Hospital. Raul passed away surrounded by his wife and daughter after a long battle of cancer. He is survived by his beloved wife of 42 years Carolyn Flores, daughter Ashley Flores, son Rudy Flores, daughter-in-law Angie Aguayo Flores, two grandsons Sebastian Diego Flores, Jose Abel Rodriguez Flores. He is also survived by five sisters and three brothers, cousins, and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, and numerous friends who will greatly miss him. In 1977 Rudy met the love of his life Carolyn. He walked up to her with a big smile and his long black hair in his flare jeans and cool guy t-shirt with a red bandana across his forehead. It was all over for her from there, she fell in love and their story began. They married and had two children, a son to carry on the Flores name that he was so very proud of, a daughter, his (Mija) and Christmas present. The family he and his wife created meant the world to him as he meant the world to them and always will. He was a jack of all trades. He worked as a house painter and learned all the tricks of the trade from the best painter in town, his father-in-law. When he married his wife and became a part of their family he was welcomed with open arms, he was never treated like a son—in-law, he was treated like a son which meant everything to him, and he valued that so much. He worked at Industrial Manufactures which later became Ludlum Measurements for over 35 years as a painter/welder. He perfected both of those skills because he took pride in his work. Now on weekends it was a different story, family fun consisted of fishing, put-put and of course his world-famous b-b-q which was the absolute best in town. Oh, and let us not forget our Rattlesnake Roundup tradition, every time it rolled around each year, he would take us with of course the necessary pit stop at the corn on the cob stand, he, and his daughter’s tradition. We followed that up carnival fun and loads of tickets to ride and play and of course more food to eat. The absolute best of times. Now, onto movie fun well he instilled a few house rules during movie times. One, no scary movies only action, two popcorn and Coca Cola were a must, followed by ice cream, three no talking during the movies, though he broke that rule each time we all sat down to watch one. Of course, we never minded that for one second. Now, he was proud of many things one thing that might sound odd, but to us his family, it was just him and how he was. His voluminous, long, thick hair, (all natural) as he would say. He would step out of the bedroom with his hair a mess and would say to us “don’t be jealous of my hair” of course just to poke fun and honestly, we were a bit jealous of his hair. Followed up by his joke to “not forget to buy our volume shampoo/conditioner to have what he has naturally”. That was his way and we loved him for it. He was so into his heavy metal music. He would play his original vinyl records and would be in his own little world jamming out loud as only he could do. He was Rudy F F and only those who truly knew him will know what that means. He was so proud to say he went to Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Van Halen, and Foreigner concerts. He loved Aerosmith was one of his absolute favorite bands, and his favorite song was “I don’t want to miss a thing”. He was a man of many talents and if anyone ever needed something he was there to lend his helping hand. He could fix anything. If you needed help with carpentry, dry wall, plumbing, fixing flats, car repair, painting, welding, he was always there, and you could always count on him. He will always be known as the best b-b-q and Tamale man in town. His one-of-a-kind recipes were always seasoned just right, perfection which suited him perfectly, as he was quite the perfectionist. Besides his wife and children, his greatest accomplishment was the day he became a “Popo”. His heart was overflowing with love when his grandson Sebastian Diego was born. He spent hours at the hospital awaiting the arrival for his sweet bundle of joy to enter his life and change his world forever. He was so very proud of Sebastian (Bashy) he would always say “my mijo is so handsome”. Now before Bashy could even walk or talk, we would all go to Walmart and they would literally get lost in there, we would look for them everywhere. What do you know, once we found them, a basket filled to the top with books, stuffed animals, toys, you name it, it was in there. He had a room of his own filled with everything his Popo would buy for him. He was everything to him and would do anything for Bashy. As he got older though his hobbies changed, he had that green thumb which none of us did and he loved gardening and planting flowers and collecting antiques. He would take Bashy outside they would be out there with the gators, bikes, motorbikes that were all for Bashy as he would say. If anything broke down Bashy was quick to say, “Popo can fix it, he can fix anything”. They had a bond it was really something. You ask Bashy how much do you love Popo he says “I love him to infinite meters”. As you can tell, this man we call husband, dad, Popo was so very loved and will remain in our hearts forever. He is our special guardian angel. He was truly one of a kind and it was a honor to know and love him. We were blessed to have him in our lives. He was the absolute best and if you were lucky enough to know him, then just that, you were lucky because as Bashy says, “My Popo was a very special man”. He is proceeded in death by his parents Domingo and Maria Flores, sister Rosa Flores, brother Lupe Flores. I love you my Husband, we love you Dad, I love you Popo.

Mask are required at the St. Joseph Catholic Church of Rotan.