Antonio R.L. Montoya

Antonio R. Montoya was born in March 1943 in Raton, NM. He enjoyed a ranching childhood growing up at the Mesa, Colmer, Taylor Springs, and Springer.  Although off to a rocky start getting kicked out of Kindergarten at the Catholic School in just one day, he went on to complete his primary education in Springer and played high school football.  He didn’t tell his parents that he was offered an athletic scholarship to play for Adams State University, because he wanted to go to New Mexico Highlands where his friends would be going. He earned his Associate of Science in Electronics Engineering, and shortly thereafter married the love of his life and his best friend still today, Lucille Vigil.  The two would go on to live in Socorro, New Mexico where Tony began working at the White Sands Missile Range. It was also during this time that Lucille would give birth to two daughters, Antonette and Michelle. The family would stay in Socorro for 4 years before moving to Alamogordo, NM.   During his 6 years of honorable National Guard Service he received a promotion and some of his fellow Guardsmen were teasing him, saying that he thought he was so cool because he got a promotion but was standing there with his stripes sewn onto his uniform upside down! Lucille will always remember that story since she was the seamstress.  After moving to Albuquerque Antonio would later go on to start his first business.  In May 1979, Tony earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Albuquerque. Tony went to work for a small business called L&M Drafting, where he was hired to grow the government contracting side of the business.  After growing that side of the business, Antonio had the opportunity to buy that business and become the owner.  The company would continue to flourish with the help of great employees and colleagues. L&M expanded to new heights and won contracts with Sandia, the WIPP site, Los Alamos, WSTF, the United Space Alliance, and NASA Johnson Space Center.  Throughout L&M’s 45 plus years, the company would garner many awards such as a top 500 Hispanic Owned Business, Awards of Excellence from the Small Business Administration, the NM Roadrunner award, and the Zia Award for quality.  L&M earned VPP Stars for its employees’ commitment to Safety. He truly felt that his employees were the company’s greatest asset and always felt blessed and gratitude for the company’s success.  His daughters began working for L&M in 1999 & 2004, and will continue on with the recent contract award at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.  He was a business owner for almost half his life, so discussions about business, the company, and contracts energized him, all the way till the end.      He would light up when we talked about L&M and still had an excellent grasp of business.

When Austin and Brooke were born, Tony’s grandchildren, he quickly understood what all the fuss was about all those years watching his brother with his grandchildren. Tony would watch Brooke’s soccer games and was always so proud to hear about their good grades, and would get choked up when seeing Brooke at San Ysidro Church being an alter server.   He would light up when he saw Austin and Brooke and was always there for them whether it be help with tuition, a first car, or words of encouragement to do their best in whatever they choose to do.

Tony was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016 and although it took a toll on him, he always wanted to be out and about.  All the way till the end, his famous line became, “whazzz up”, is anyone gonna pick me up? The family and Tony were so fortunate to have a team of people around him that loved him and took care of him unconditionally, whether it be Betti who brought him breakfast every week when she came to clean the house, Devon who cared for him as she would her own father, Lucille who would look after him when he was sick, or our loving Aunts, Uncles, and cousins that always included us in one function or another where he was surrounded by loving family and people that treated him like family. He would love the weekends as he knew we would all get together, to attend Church, go to lunch after and usually to a movie. During football season, he would often like to watch the Minnesota Vikings, his favorite football team since he was a child. He said he became a fan after finding out that his family was a distant relative of a former Vikings’ player. That player was none other than Joe Kapp. We would all get together on Sundays and watch the games, especially if the Vikings were in the playoffs. Last year was no different. The Vikings made it all the way to the NFC Championship before losing to the Eagles. I will never forget the look in his eyes when Diggs caught that pass to put them in the championship game. It was a game of a lifetime. Tony was like….He caught that ball?????

Tony loved his brothers and sisters, nieces, and nephews. His love for his entire extended family, close colleagues, and friends will go on.  Reflecting back on Tony and his life, he knew what made a person great….family and God.  We will never forget you, Dad. To know you was to love you.  May you rest in Peace, and we look forward to seeing you once again with the angels and saints in Heaven.