Robert Vargas Obituary

Robert "Bob" Vargas entered eternal rest on February 10, 2025. He was the middle of three sons born to Manuel and Lucy Vargas on December 8, 1950, in Silver City, NM. He was formerly married to Velma Vargas and together they shared three children and seven grandchildren.
As a young boy, Bob was an altar boy at St. Vincent. He started working at a very young age selling food from home, working at a gas station, and he apprenticed at a local wrecking yard where he developed an affinity for automotive mechanics. He also worked at the lime plant, drill rigs, and he cut and sold cords of wood. His true calling was in mechanics, specializing in automatic transmissions and he went on to build a successful, reputable business out of his home shop, "Bob's Transmissions".
Bob loved anything with speed – cars, motorcycles, monster trucks, mud bogs, dune buggies, quad racers, rails, go carts. He was well known for his King Baja and Halfbreed automobiles. He loved to be outdoors camping, fishing, hiking, and loved to hunt and collect gemstones, jewelry, artifacts, and antiques. In his downtime, he enjoyed a good western movie, especially those with John Wayne.
He was a family man and adored his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and even the neighborhood kids. He loved to teach them new things and encouraged learning. He was a kid at heart and was always eager to use his technical skills to join in the child play, building a treehouse or a kiddy pool to cool down in the summer. He even built a zipline and a dunking machine with his welding skills and made a dirt racetrack with his dozer operator skills. On a snow day, you could find him trolling the roads in search of someone to pull out of the snow with his 1977 Ford F-250 Highboy.
Bob lived in Denton, TX for ten years and in Lordsburg, NM for seven years but he loved Silver City.
Throughout his life he was afflicted by many injuries and illnesses that eventually required him to be placed under dependent care of his beloved son in Las Cruces, NM, where he succumbed to complications associated with Parkinson's disease.
He is survived by his companion, Juana Mesa of Lordsburg, NM; his sons, Dominic Vargas (Jessica) of Flower Mound, TX and Bobbydan Vargas (Vanessa) of Las Cruces, NM; his daughter, Bernadette Vargas Holguin (Edward) of Lewisville, TX; his brother, David Vargas (Debra) of Silver City, NM; his seven grandchildren, Analicia, Samantha, Bridgette, Kody, Dominque; Auria and Eliette; his one niece, Andrea; his two nephews, Troy and Jason; his great nephew, James; his great nieces, Cassie, Kayla, Krista, Karina, Scarlett, Brook and Claire. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Manuel "Bill" Vargas.
The Holy Rosary, recited by Deacon Bill Holguin, will be held on Friday, February 21, 2025 at 10:00am at Terrazas Funeral Chapels, with the Funeral Service held at 12:00pm at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church with Father Oliver Obele officiating. He will be laid to rest at St. Vincent's Catholic Cemetery at 1:30pm.
In lieu of Flowers, our wishes are to consider making a donation to Parkinson's research or Mesilla Valley Hospice & Palliative Care in Las Cruces.
Cremation will take place at Terrazas Crematory. Arrangements are with Terrazas Funeral Chapels and Crematory "Trust care for the ones you love" ~ 575-537-0777. To send condolences, visit www.terrazasfuneralchapel.com.
To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Robert "Bobby" Montes Vargas, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.