Jose Cecilio Lopez Terrazas, of Winona Lake, passed away surrounded by his family on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, at Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne at the age of 61.

Jose Lopez

He was born on Oct. 6, 1962, in Guanajuato, Mexico, to Esperanza (Terrazas) Lopez and Meliton Lopez. He met his future wife, Teresa Olmos, in July of 1986. They dated for three long years and finally married on Jan. 14, 1989. They were blessed to have raised six children and become grandparents during their 34 years of marriage together.

Jose was a kind and familiar face in the area, working in residential construction. Having lived in Kosciusko County for the past 27 years, he met many people who became dear friends during his life. Jose enjoyed his church family at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Warsaw, which he attended with his family. He was the most loving grandpa to all of his grandchildren and loved spending as much time with them. He was loving, silly and stern when needed. Jose loved working on cars, especially with his boys. He tried to teach them the Spanish words for various car parts that always seemed to get screwed up in translation when his sons went to actually get the part. They laughed about it plenty over the years because Dad always knew exactly what he was talking about. Another special memory the family will cherish forever is Dad loved to take care of his garden, especially his chilies. He was so proud of his garden and enjoyed spending hours watering and weeding. Jose will forever be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend. Though his life on this Earth wasn’t long, he lived a wonderful and full life and was dearly loved by his family.

He leaves behind his wife, Teresa Lopez, Winona Lake; three sons, Jose F. Lopez, Winona Lake, Juan Lopez, Winona Lake, and Miguel Lopez, Winona Lake; three daughters, Marissa Lopez, Warsaw, Christina (Santiago) Gonzalez, Warsaw, and Alejandra (Eduardo) Sanchez, Fort Wayne; 11 grandchildren; four brothers; and one sister. He was preceded in death by his parents, and his brother, Israel Lopez.

Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home, 225 Argonne Road, Warsaw.

Jose’s life will be celebrated with a Mass of Christian Burial at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 225 Gilliam Drive, Warsaw, and celebrated by the Rev. Constantino Rocha. A graveside service will follow at Oakwood Cemetery, 421 N. Maple Ave., Warsaw.