Noe Flores

1938 - 2015

Noe Flores, 76, passed away Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in Fort Worth. Service: The celebration of the life of Dr. Noe Flores will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, July 31, inside the Botanic Gardens Lecture Hall, with fellowship beginning at 2 p.m. in the lobby of the lecture hall. Noe Flores was a longtime professor at Texas Wesleyan University where he taught Spanish, children's literature in Spanish, Hispanic literature in the U.S., and humanities. Meeting Dr. Rodolfo Rodriguez was a pivotal moment in his career and life. With his friend and mentor, he collaborated, designed and implemented a training program for bilingual education at Wesleyan. As president of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education, he advocated for comprehensive training of teachers with the goal of helping students achieve strong literacy skills in their native language as a foundation for learning English as a second language. The bilingual education that many take for granted today was achieved through the hard work and dedication of educators like Noe Flores, visionaries who dreamt big, and tirelessly fought ideological and political battles in Austin and in Washington to improve the lives of children and their families through education. As a student athlete, Noe earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of North Texas. Some years later, he earned his doctorate from Texas A&M in his hometown of Kingsville. In addition to academics, athletics played an important role in his life. This scholar/athlete was a member of the Mean Green football team that played in the Sun Bowl in 1959 and years later, he served as the first and only coach of an active fencing team at Wesleyan. His passion for golf began at UNT and afforded him many hours of pleasure with the Pan American Golf Association, with his friends from the Geezles Service Fraternity, and with his sons and brother. "The Rock" as they called Rockwood Golf Course, was beloved to his buddies and to him. In addition to playing at Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Scottsdale, Ariz., he finally realized a lifelong dream two years ago when he played the courses at St. Andrews in Scotland. Noe was also a gifted musician, a guitarist and singer who experimented and practiced to achieve perfect vocal phrasing and seamless chord progressions. With his combination of technique and musicality, he captivated and moved audiences large and small, whether he was singing a ballad, a bolero, a ranchera, or an American jazz standard. To be present during some of these renditions was to be in the presence of the divine spirit of music. His greatest passions, however, were teaching and learning. He not only tutored other faculty members in Spanish and music and mentored countless students, but he took advantage of the talents and expertise of his colleagues, entreating them to teach him everything from piano and painting to German and jazz guitar. In retirement, he continued his quest for knowledge. He spent hours doing research to deepen his understanding of algebraic concepts, Latin and other languages, World War II history, as well as the complicated geopolitics of the world's most troubled regions. He was a voracious reader who stalled and fidgeted and got up to do mundane household activities at the end of every book he loved, just because he didn't want it to end. Noe began life on Oct. 21, 1938, in Kingsville. In his youth, he relished the summers he spent in Mexico working on his uncle's cattle ranch where he acquired an appreciation for a rural way of life, and learned cattle working and management skills that have served him well in his family's modest cattle operation in East Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents, Manuel Flores and Esperanza Garza; his brothers, Manuel, Enrique, Willie and Maj. Humberto Flores; and sisters-in-law, Belen Flores and Micaela Flores. Survivors: Dr. Flores is survived by Sharon, his wife of 51 years; his children, Erica, Victor, Christopher and Kristen; daughters-in-law, Emma Flores and Karen Rascon; brother, retired Maj. Arturo Flores; sisters-in-law, Sara Duenas Flores, Tamela Jarvais and Laura Simpson; beloved grandchildren, Mitchell, Isabel and Nicklaus Flores, and Augusta "Gus" and Asa Flores-Rascon; his 11 very loving and devoted nieces and nephews; and his many friends and extended family who will miss his company, lively and enlightening conversations, and loyal friendship.