Santiago Roybal, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather passed away at his home on April 19th, 2026, at the age of 85. He was born on Jan 16, 1941, in El Rancho and grew up with his nine siblings, cousins and numerous relatives. He lived with the Quintana Family for a few years growing up. He moved to Los Angeles, California in his 20’s. On a trip to Europe, he met and fell in love with Maria Cabrera, and they were married on his 30th birthday in 1971. He always joked that it was so he would not forget his anniversary. They were married for 55 years and together they raised four children: Philip, Margaret, Monica, and Richard.

He was a wonderful Dad. Some of our greatest memories growing up were from our parents driving our family from LA to New Mexico to visit our grandparents and numerous relatives. He also loved the National Parks and took us to see each one in the Western United States. We did all these trips in a small Toyota truck with a camper shell.

There were many things he enjoyed. He loved growing chili plants and always had a garden. Even setting up numerous 5-gallon buckets when there was not enough ground space in LA. He always attended all our events growing up and filmed our cross country and track races in high school. After moving back to El Rancho in 2006 he began filming the basketball team from Pojoaque High. He spent countless hours editing videos and making copies to give to people. He bought go carts for the children, and he liked to drive the little ones around until they were big enough to drive on their own. He loved riding the go-carts on his property with his ten grandchildren when they visited, and of course, filming us.

He loved sitting out by his front yard garden and waving to his friends and neighbors as they drove by. He loved sitting on his porch watching the clouds and enjoying the smell of the rain. He loved visits from friends and family, especially those bearing sweets. He often filmed the storms and would drive to the bridge to watch the water rushing down the arroyo.

He was funny, and we loved hearing his story about the bear that almost got him when he was a boy, and the two plump bears at Santa Clara that he chased away when they tried to eat his barbecue food he was making. The grandkids always loved to hear his bear roar over the phone. Like all the Roybal siblings, he loved to talk to everyone-- including people he did not know. He loved sweets: cake, cookies, and soda. He was good at basketball and always impressed people with how good he was in his later years. He also loved to work hard with his chainsaw and enjoyed the ongoing battle with the weeds and Chinese elms on his property. All physical work was his secret to living a long life of 85 years.

Our father was extremely generous; chances are if you stopped by his house, you would not leave empty handed. He also loved helping the poor in Third World countries. He and our mom loved donating money to build wells in Africa, and to the poor in Haiti. When we were growing up in L.A., he would buy school supplies and sacks of food and fill our van up and drive them down to Mexico and donate them. More than anything else he was a firm believer in God and read and knew the Bible very well. He taught us to live a Christ-like lifestyle and to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. He believed you should love thy neighbor as yourself and he led by example with how he lived his life. He was a wonderful husband, dad, grandpa, and great grandpa. We will miss him dearly until we see him again in heaven.

A Funeral Service to honor Sandy's life is scheduled for May 9th, 2026, from 10:00am to 12:00pm, followed by a Reception which will begin following his Funeral Service. Both events will be held at Rivera Family Funeral Home of Espanola, located at 305 Calle Salazar, Espanola, NM 87532. Sandy will then be laid to rest at El Campo Santo de la Cruz cemetery in his hometown of El Rancho, New Mexico.