Ted Gomez

1999 FAA Humanitarian Award

The Humanitarian Award was given to Ted Gomez.  He received this estimable award as a result of being nominated by two friars of Our Lady of Guadalupe Province.  Raised in Sacred Heart Parish (Farmington, NM), Ted is involved in music ministry there. He has also taught faith formation on the high school level and serves as a member of the parish pastoral council. Ted and his wife Pearl have been married 23 years. Their two children are Patrick (22) and RoseAnn (18).  Ted has been actively involved with "building the church" serving in several capacities including the Search for Christian Maturity program for 27 years and has figured prominently in keeping the program a living witness to Christ.  

Ted, a son of Gilbert and Rebecca Gomez of Farmington, comes from a stereotypical Catholic family: 15 kids.  He and his brothers could field nearly an entire baseball team.  In fact, they did, and their team played so well together that they won several tournaments and competed out of state.  Ted and his siblings also had a rock band and entertained at parties.

With so many mouths to feed, the Gomez family learned to be creative and frugal.  They planted blue corn, harvested it, and took it to the mill to be ground up and used during the winter.  "Add boiling water and a little sugar, and you have breakfast."

The good example of many friars when Ted was in grade school drew him to the Franciscans. His older brother Francisco came to St. Francis Seminary a year before Ted did. Ted was surprised and humbled when notified of the award. “ I’ve just been doing what needed to be done,” he said.