Richard Abalos

Richard Covarubio Abalos was born in Rankin, Texas to Angela and Lasaro Abalos on July 4, 1943. He attended school at Odessa College, and was a graduate of University of Texas at Austin and St. Mary’s Law School. He married Delma Dora Jimenez on November 4, 1978 in Odessa, Texas. He was an Attorney in private practice for 49 years. He served in the United States Army as an attorney in the JAG office and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. For his dedication to the community he was given many awards, not the least of which was the Community Statesman award given by the Heritage of Odessa Foundation and the Odessa American. As a child, with his family, he worked the cotton and onion fields throughout West Texas, until he decided he needed to go to school full time in Rankin. To help fund that, he worked in the school cafeteria washing dishes. Even at a young age, he saw education as the key to escaping poverty. While in junior high school in Rankin, a math teacher there in Rankin taught him how to complete the 1040 EZ tax form, which he turned into a business. That was his first taste of entrepreneurship, which he would use to start his own law firm years later. He was a Golden Gloves boxer. He met his hero and mentor Warren Burnett at a match. Burnett told him to if he ever needed a job to call him. A few months later he was a janitor in Burnett’s law office and enrolled in Odessa College. He was promoted to translator and investigator soon after. Warren helped him get into UT and then to St. Mary’s law school. A few weeks before Richard’s law school graduation, he was drafted. It was during the Vietnam war, but because he had a law degree he was able to serve in the Judge Advocate General Corps, at Fort Rucker Alabama. Richard was extremely proud of his service. There he bunked with former Vice President Al Gore. When he was released from the service, Richard moved back to Odessa to join Warren Burnett’s law firm as Odessa’s first Mexican American lawyer. He also became very involved in the Democratic Party, both locally and state-wide. Richard saw the justice system and voting as the ultimate ways for minorities to get ahead in life. As a lawyer, he didn’t see his clients as guilty or innocent, but rather as deserving of their constitutional rights. In a 1971 news article, while he was waiting to leave the Army, he said,”I just want to make sure the scales of justice are properly balanced when my people’s rights are being weighed.” Many of his clients became lifelong friends and oftentimes, his friends became clients. Richard loved the law. He religiously read legal journals and magazines, so he could be informed of the most up to date legal decisions. He was a nice man, but when he was in a courtroom, he fought like a boxer for his clients. He also was a very proud Mexican- American and believed that maintaining his culture was very important. To that end, he was a member of LULAC, Hispanic Heritage and a founding member of the Club Los Dorados Riding Club, with whom he brought Charro exhibits to the Permian Basin. He was a fierce friend, ready to help in any way he could. Be it monetarily, with legal services, or physical possessions. His bond with many of his friends was so strong that they named him Padrino to their children, a role he took very seriously. He made so many friends while doing some of the things he loved, two of which were riding horses and enjoying happy hour with his fellow lawyers. He spent many happy years with his prized horse Astro Jet at the Lienzo Charro. He was as at home around an outdoor fire cooking asado as he was drinking Scotch at the old Odessa hangout, Cheers. Richard was a true family man. He loved his dad so much and was a dutiful son. He used his income to help his father provide for his younger siblings. He made sure his wife, Delma, had all the resources she needed to get her masters degree. He loved all his brothers and sisters, but greatly admired his eldest brother, Paul, an educator. He was the proud father of Angel, Feliz and Andrea and the even prouder grandfather of Noah and Lyndon. He was so multifaceted, a few paragraphs could never capture the man that was Richard C. Abalos. He loved chess, tennis, bird watching, coin collecting, cats, poker, mariachis and the Dallas Cowboys. Richard is preceded in death by his mother, Angela Abalos, his father Lasaro Abalos and step-mother Consuelo Abalos, his brothers, Paul Abalos and Basilio Abalos and sister, Eustolia Abalos Ortiz and brothers-in-law, Rodolfo Ortiz and David Black. He is survived by wife Delma J. Abalos, children Angel Abalos, A. Feliz Abalos (Shawn DeWitt), Andrea M. Storm (Ryne), grandchildren Noah Joseph Fegley and Lyndon Rafael Storm, brothers, Frank Abalos (Frances), Lasaro Abalos (Maria), Rosendo Abalos (Yolanda), George Abalos, Jesse Abalos (Angie), Johnny Abalos (Dorena), Selso Abalos (Mary), Lupe Abalos and sisters, Linda Rojas (Frank), Martha Black, Victoria Dominguez (Marcelino), sister-in-law Pilar Abalos, many brothers- and sisters- in-law and numerous adoring nieces and nephews. Memorials may be given to The Odessa College Foundation (where he has an endowed scholarship) or BasinPBS (where he was a founding member, when it was KOCV). Honorary pallbearers will be Angel Abalos, Noah Fegley, Shawn DeWitt, Ryne Storm, Jonathan Campos, Jeffery Berthelson, Frank Abalos, Lasaro Abalos, Rosendo Abalos. A public viewing will be held on Sunday, January 3, 2020 from 1:00 pm-7:00 pm. Masks are mandatory and social distancing is required. The family will not be present during those hours due to COVID-19. There will be a private family burial on Saturday, January 9, 2020 in Rankin, Texas. A celebration of life will be held in 2021 and the family hopes to see everyone there.