Joe P. Delgado

Joe P. Delgado, 82, a longtime Royal Slope farmer passed away Thursday, February 28, 2013 at Moses Lake, Washington. Rosary and Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Michaels's Church in Royal City, Washington on Friday, March 8, 2013 with viewing from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, Rosary beginning at 12:30 PM followed by Mass at 1:00 PM. Burial with Military Honors will be held at Royal Memorial Gardens following the service. Please sign the online guestbook or leave a note for the family at www.kayserschapel.com Arrangements are in care of Kayser's Chapel & Crematory.

Joe was born in Kansas City, Kansas on April 19, 1931 to Frank Delgado and Carmen (Rodriguez) Delgado, the first of 13 children. The Delgado family moved to Wyoming and Western Nebraska where they resided as tenant farmers for a number of years. There, as the family grew, they all shared and cherished the dream of someday owing their own farm. When the Korean conflict began, young Joe entered the Air Force where he began the adventure of a lifetime that would culminate in his dream to own his own farm. Joe was stationed at Larson Air force Base in Moses Lake, Washington where he attained the rank of Staff Sergeant in the USAF and was a flight mechanic and crew chief. He would entertain his family and friends for the rest of his life with stories about the adventures of his flying career, including how they lost the engines on one very memorable flight. Joe strongly believed that his time in the Air Force helped shape him as an individual.

Joe married Elvita Ruiz on September 17, 1960 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and within the year he and Elvita, along with numerous members of the large Delgado family, moved to the Royal Slope and started their farm on Dodson Road. Besides farming, Joe worked as an outstation employee for the Washington State Employment Security Department, serving the Royal Slope area, Othello and Moses Lake. During his 30 year career as a Job Placement Specialist and Farm Program Supervisor, Joe secured employment for many Basin individuals. He retired from the Moses Lake Office in 1996.

Joe believed in hard work and he and Elvita remained on the farm on Dodson road, raising their four children and always finding time to welcome and entertain a host of brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews when they congregated at the farm for holidays and extended weekends. Joe provided the motor bikes and Elvita always had a big container of homemade tortillas ready for all to enjoy.

Joe and Elvita are now reunited in Heaven with their parents as well as their son, Daniel and grandson, Jason. Joe is survived by his sons, Joseph and Michael, and daughter Christine; brothers Medardo (Leonard) and Frank; and sisters Nellie (Sister Francesca), Mary, Lydia, Lola and Sally. Joe was preceded in death by brothers Pete and Simon, and sister Frances. Joe leaves behind his grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews.