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In Memory

Joe Mendoza

Joe Mendoza

Joseph Robert Mendoza, Jr.

January 20, 1950 ~ September 12, 2013

Joseph Robert "Music" Mendoza, age 63 of Phoenix, passed away on September 12, 2013.  After graduating from Tucson High, he received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Arizona in 1972.  He taught school in several Arizona cities including San Carlos and Winkleman.  In 1985 he received an M.A. Ed. in Counseling at Northern Arizona University and moved to Phoenix the following year.

Joe worked in the counseling field, including tenures with Chicanos Por La Causa and the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections.  He met Jean in Phoenix, and they were married in 1998.  Jean had four children from a previous marriage.

In 2006 Joe graduated from the Desert Rose Christian College with a degree in Ministerial Theology and served as an ordained minister.  Joe and Jean ministered in music and teaching throughout Arizona and also in Minnesota.  Using electronic keyboards as well as computer software, Joe programmed the musical accompaniments they used. 

At the time of our 40-year reunion in 2007, Joe and Jean were the Church Plan Team Leaders for the two annual Family Life Weekend to Remember marriage conferences held in the Phoenix area.  Semi-retired, Joe taught part time in a local school while Jean was working in the accounting profession.

They were building a home in Crown King, Arizona, located in the Bradshaw Mountains, in the very center of the state.  In 2007 they were the proud grandparents of seven grandchildren.

Joe's Celebration of Life service will be held on October 5, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. at Sunrise United Methodist Church, 19234 N. 7th Avenue in Phoenix.