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On March 20, 2022, at the age of 102 Rogelio (Roger) Bolado left this world to join his beloved wife, Alicia, in heavenly rest. He was surrounded by family and died peacefully at home. Roger was born on November 9, 1919 in Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, to parents Joel and Maria Bolado and moved to Brownsville with his family in 1929 when he was 9 years old, and later, to Rio Grande City. In 1941, the United States entered World War II and Roger was drafted into the Army Air Corps in 1942. Soon after joining the service Roger was stationed in Wichita Falls, Texas in November 1942 where he was made a naturalized US citizen. After additional training, he was assigned to the crew of a B-17 bomber as its Flight Engineer and took off with his crew to fly their plane into battle first in Northern Africa and then on to the Allied Air Field complex in Foggia, Italy, where he and his crew flew daylight bombing raids across Axis-held territory against military industrial targets in Southern and Eastern Europe. Roger completed 51 missions during his time as a B-17 crew member and left the service as a decorated soldier in 1946. After returning home to the US, Roger met and married our mother, Alicia Flores in 1947 and set out to build their lives together. Soon after, in 1950, Roger was recalled into active duty and spent the next 20 years in the Air Force, retiring as a Senior Master Sergeant. During this time, he and Alicia travelled the world and raised 6 children along the way. After leaving the Air Force in 1970, he began his second career as a Border Patrol Agent in the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The family continued to move from place to place as his assignments changed and Roger rose to the rank of Inspector. He retired from the INS in 1992, having spent a total of 60 years in service to his country. His crowning achievement, however, was his wife and family who meant everything to him. He loved nothing more than spending time with us as often as possible. Over the years, he took time with each of us while growing up to tutor and instill the importance of hard work. He was loving and generous and also had a playful side. He never failed to crack you up with his rapier wit, ask anyone who knew him. To say he will be greatly missed barely suffices for such a deeply-loved, well-respected patriarch. Roger was preceded in death by his parents, Joel and Maria, his brothers Enrique, Reuben, Victor, Homero and Emilio, and his sisters Rosa (Chata) and Alicia. He was also preceded in death by his wife of more than 60 years, Alicia. Roger is survived by his children: Olga Loftus, Estel Jacobson, Rogelio Bolado, Jr., Joel Bolado, Teresa McQueen and Ernesto Bolado, along with their spouses and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.

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SMSgt. Rogelio Bolado (USAF, Ret.)

November 9, 1919 - March 20, 2022