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Alfredo Garcia Guerrero (Popouny)
Pops departed this world at 11:30 a.m. March 17, 2020. After a courageous battle with dementia and a truly round to round fight to the end where Popouny finally let go and went to join his family in the hereafter.
Waiting for him are his loving and gracious mother, Enriqueta Garcia Guerrero Orozco (Queta) father Ventura Guerrero, beloved sister Elisa Guerrero Bracamonte (Jim), brothers Ventura (Benny) Guerrero, Enrique (Hank) Guerrero, Carlos (Chale) Guerrero (Rebecca), Eduardo (Bunchie) Guerrero (Jesse) and Roberto (Bobby “O”) Orozco. A reunion long anticipated indeed. Alfredo is survived by his remaining loving brother, Richard Carrisoza (Griselda)
Alfredo was born on Nov. 20, 1936 on Euclid Street, an immigrant inhabited canyon and melting pot of mixed cultures that exemplified the American Ideal. This can be evidenced by the nickname he was tagged with as a child. Popouny is a Sicilian word meaning “Tugboat”, undoubtedly a true indication of his tenacious nature.
Alfredo graduated from Globe High School in 1956, went to work in the local construction industry after graduation and then decided that there was a better way. He pursued a higher education and graduated from Arizona State College now known as Northern Arizona University in 1962.
He then accepted a teaching position in Yuma, Ariz. at the then recently desegregated George Washington Carver Elementary School where he became a popular and well liked Fifth Grade teacher known for a fair but firm philosophy in teaching education. He moved forward in the pursuing years successfully completing a Master’s Degree Program and Administrators Certification to eventually become Principal at Carver Elementary where he started and finished his career in Education after 30 years.
Popouny is survived by his son Alfred Joseph Guerrero, four grandchildren, Enrique (Henry) Guerrero (Jessica), David Guerrero, Samuel Guerrero (who followed in his grandfather’s footsteps to become an educator) and loving granddaughter Rebecca Guerrero and five great grandchildren, Gabriel, Caylee, Emilia, Allison and little Henry Guerrero.
Popouny will be missed as a professional educator, leader (though he would never acknowledge that) and a genuinely gracious individual with a special generosity inherited from his humble roots that he often described in private as, “coming from an outfit that didn’t have two nickels to rube together”.
Memorial services are pending and will be announced at a later date.
Assisting the family; Lamont Mortuary of Globe.
