In Memoriam

Orlando Cervantes passed away peacefully on June 23, 2022. He is survived by his sister Jessica and his children Joseph Cervantes and his wife, Jennifer; Dino Cervantes and his wife, Leslie; and Kristina Cervantes-VanderLugt. He is beloved by six granddaughters: Alyssa Cervantes Wilson (Cole), Alexandra Cervantes, Isabella Cervantes, Juliana Cervantes, Jacqueline Cervantes-VanderLugt, and Elizabeth Cervantes-VanderLugt. He will also be missed by his dear friend and companion, Rose Garcia. Orlando’s family wishes to give thanks to his devoted caregivers, Maria Rojas and Martha Zamarripa for the devotion, compassion and excellent care they provided over the years.

Orlando was born on July 29, 1932 in El Paso, Texas. He graduated from El Paso High School after excelling in all sports and being named to the all-district teams in baseball and football. In 2018 he was inducted into the El Paso High School Hall of Fame. Orlando received a football/baseball scholarship to attend New Mexico State University. After his freshman year, he joined the Army in 1953 and received an honorable discharge in 1955. Afterward, he returned to New Mexico State University and received his civil engineering degree. He met and married the mother of his children, Emma Jean Apodaca-Cervantes who came from a farming family in the Mesilla Valley.

Orlando was a visionary and as the manager of J. F. Apodaca Farms one of his proudest accomplishments was bringing a new crop and industry to the Mesilla Valley: Peppers grown for Louisiana style hot sauces.

An engineer and builder at heart, Orlando bought properties in Las Cruces and began an engineering firm. In that effort he played a role in the design and construction of many projects around Las Cruces. The most notable was the building of the new library at New Mexico State University.

He served on many community boards such as the Rio Grande Natural Gas Co. and served as Chairman of the Doña Ana County Planning and Zoning Board. Additionally, three New Mexico Governors sought his service on state boards. His generosity of time extended to additional community contributions as well. In 2017 he funded the La Clinica Cervantes Complex to provide medical assistance to the people of Dona Ana County.

While Orlando was a noted entrepreneur, his greatest joy was his three children, instilling in them the values of hard work and integrity.

His most treasured time was spent around the holidays, gathering with family and friends at his annual Christmas party. He also loved watching all New Mexico State Aggie sports and was an avid supporter. Orlando leaves a meaningful legacy of purpose and vision and he will be greatly missed.

Dr. John Morton Fowler, “Doc,” 71, Las Cruces, passed away July 15, 2022, in the comfort of his own home. Doc worked at NMSU for 39 years and was a strong advocate for natural resources and agriculture. John loved God, land, agriculture, his profession and his family! Doc was born November 16, 1950 in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, the third of four children, to Edith Alexander and Charles Robert Fowler. His father was a Chief Warrant Officer in the US Coast Guard, thus they moved frequently and always lived near the coast in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alaska, et.

Because of frequent moves John always reminded his children that family is often all you have, who you can count on most, that you should stick together and always take care of each other. As a child, John enjoyed the outdoors and loved hunting for lizards and snakes, which once he brought home to his mother inside his pocket! He liked to visit his grandparents on their family farm in Illinois. Doc’s first job was mowing lawns in 6th grade, followed by work at a pizza place, Dunkin Doughnuts and Keeler’s Horseradish Farm.

Upon High School graduation John began secondary studies at Iowa State University in Chemistry but soon changed his major to Forestry. He worked summers fighting fires for the US Forest Service and was a Smoke Jumper. He continued his education, obtaining a MS in Agriculture Economics at NMSU then returned to Iowa

College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences

ANIMAL & RANGE SCIENCE

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE

• Dorper and Suffolk Sheep • Brahman, Brangus, and Angus Cattle • Swine

Eric Scholljegerdes 575-646-1750

State where he obtained his PhD. He began working as a full-time Professor for NMSU in Fall 1979.

John loved to play basketball. As a kid, he enjoyed playing during half time of a Boston Celtics/Detroit Pistons game in Carnegie Hall. He enjoyed playing for a couple hours each day during his lunch hour at NMSU until he had to have his hip replaced at the Mayo Clinic in 1990 due to an old forest fire injury. His nickname in basketball was FOUL-ER.

He was an avid NMSU Aggie and Boston Celtic basketball fan. Doc enjoyed rebuilding an engine on his 67 Camaro, working on his farm, coaching sports with fine young people and their families. He also served as a Financial Management Leader for Young Men in scouting and church and enjoyed doing service projects on ranches. He was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by his son in Boston in 2015. He enjoyed serving as Sunday School President, in Priesthood Quorums, in the YSA Bishopric and until his death serving as a worker in the Albuquerque Temple.

He had a strong belief in the power of prayer. His past two years were a God given miracle, as he was a survivor of stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer, the Whipple surgery and was two years cancer free on June 5, 2022.

John was passionate about his career and spent many hours working. He enjoyed research, teaching, being out on the range, and the quality men he associated with. He was passionate about all natural resources; but spent the majority of his career working with public grazing land and forest. He testified before the US Senate and House multiple times and had a reputation for being honest and true to good research. He truly respected and gave his all for the range livestock industry. He received many awards including the ALLI SIEMPRE AYE Award, Bud Epper’s Handshake Award, NMFS Award, Outstanding Contribution Award from NMCG and NMFB, et. He traveled extensively; some of his favorite places being South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

He hosted the 1st International Wildlife Symposium in the United States. Doc enjoyed working with students and teaching, especially senior and graduate level college students. Doc served as Coordinator of a team of specialists known as the RANGE IMPROVEMENT TASK FORCE for 17 years and was Director of the LINEBERRY FOUNDATION at NMSU.

He had many publications, including articles in the Smithsonian, Range Magazine, New Mexico Stockman and many others. While in post grad school John married and had two beautiful daughters, Shannyn Welsh Fowler and Amber Alexander Fowler. In 1987 John married Johnette Moore and had four additional children; Landon Tyrel (Courtney), Desaree, John Westin (Sarah) and Valian Chance (Molli). They resided in Las Cruces where they raised their children on a small pecan farm.

John taught his children the value of working hard, the importance of a strong education and that a man was only as good as his word. John was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife, Johnette Moore Fowler, his six children, nine beautiful grandchildren and his siblings, Bonnie (Greg) Brutcher, Charles Robert ‘Chuck’, Curt (Linda) Fowler and their families. He dearly loved all his nephews and nieces in the Fowler and Moore families.

Mary Ella Cowan, 85, Tombstone, Arizona, passed away on July 6, 2022 in Tucson. Mary Ella was born on May 2, 1937 in Douglas, Arizona, to Frank and Irene Sproul. She began her early education in Turkey Creek and later moved to Douglas for junior high and high school. But most of her education came from riding the ranch up Turkey Creek with her father, where she developed a passion for horses and the land.

Mary Ella was among the first CowBelles as a two-year-old at the first CowBelle meeting in October 1939. Her mother, Irene, and her future mother-in-law, Mattie Cowan, were founding members. In 1952 Mary Ella married Robert E. (Bobby) Cowan. They moved to the JO Bar Ranch near Tombstone, where they had three daughters. Mary Ella worked on the ranch and was a skilled seamstress, making clothes for the entire family for Cochise County parades. Bobbie and Mary Ella participated in a horseback square dance team for several years.

When her daughters were teenagers, Mary Ella went to work for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department as a Deputy Sheriff. In 1997 she married Leonard Christian. They resided on Mary Ella’s small horse property near Tombstone, where they raised quarter horses until Leonard’s passing in 2017.

Throughout her life, Mary Ella enjoyed rodeo by both participating as a team and break-away roper and watching. The Cowboy Channel provided her countless hours of entertainment over the last few years.

In addition to Leonard, Mary Ella was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Bob Sproul, sister Ruth Williams and their spouses.

Mary Ella is survived by her daughters Caren, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Connie, Camp Verde, Arizona; and Carol, Atoka, Oklahoma; grandson and the apple of her eye, R.W. Wood, wife Ande, and great-grandson Forrest; as well as nieces Becky Sproul