San Joaquin-Fresno County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....Rangel, Jose Carlos January 23 2005 ********************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/usgenweb/obits/obitsca/obitsca.htm ********************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Cheryl Davis-Holman Cis1052@sbcglobal.com February 3, 2005, 11:28 am The Record February 1, 2005 STOCKTON -- So selfless was U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Jose Carlos Rangel that he once told his wife that if he could bear their children to spare her the pain of childbirth, he would. And he meant it, she said. "He was always thinking of other people, and never about himself," said his wife, Noemi Rangel of Fresno. Rangel, a former Stocktonian and a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War, died Jan. 23 in Kuwait. He was 43. Rangel was jogging during a training drill when he told other soldiers that he did not feel well. Then he collapsed. According to his wife, an autopsy determined that Rangel suffered a heart attack. That's something that hasn't yet sunk in, she said. "I couldn't accept it when they told me that," said Rangel, explaining that her husband of 13 years was a healthy man who jogged regularly, exercised at the gym and rarely drank alcohol. "A healthy person doesn't just collapse like that." ::: Advertisement ::: Rangel's body has been brought back to Fresno for the funeral service. He will be buried Friday in Stockton. The youngest of 10 children, Rangel moved with his family from Ensenada, Mexico, to Stockton when he was 13 years old. He graduated from Edison High School and attended San Joaquin Delta College. He was 19 when he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He immediately was sent to Operation Desert Storm. After six years of active duty with the Marines, Rangel joined the Army National Guard. He was assigned to the 1106th Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot in Fresno. Rangel was deployed to Kuwait in December. He was working with hazardous materials, his wife said. His family last spoke with him the night before he died. "We put him on speaker phone -- everyone was talking to him," Noemi Rangel said. "He said he loved us and missed us. ... He didn't have no worry or anything in his voice." Rangel said her husband was a great dad, who enjoyed spending time with his three sons: Randy, 11; Michael, 7; and Andrew, 2. Visitation for Rangel will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lisle Funeral Home in Fresno. Mass will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua in Fresno. A graveside service will be at 11 a.m. at San Joaquin Catholic Cemetery in Stockton. Rangel will be buried alongside his parents, which was his last wish, his wife said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ca/sanjoaquin/obits/gob5206rangel.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/caobfiles/ File size: 3.1 Kb