John LeDoux
Dr. John Paul LeDoux has unfortunately lost his long battle with ALS. My uncle was truly an amazing man, a Father, husband, Christian, Professor, die hard Raiders/Washington Nationals fan, and a liberal who would never let me forget it. He grew up in the small town of Dixon New Mexico but reached so many lives. After completing his education at the University of New Mexico and Arizona State University with a brief teaching stint in Indiana he came home to make New Mexico a better place.
He spent years at Santa Fe Community College teaching hundreds of people the Spanish language, opening their worlds to them. Before ALS forced him to retire he even briefly lead the department. He had many students who loved his classes and some students included important people such as the former Mayor of Santa Fe.
During his time off he would love to listen to local New Mexico Spanish Music, travel, and when he still could, bike all around the Pojoaque and Española Valleys. I often would get calls from friends telling me they saw him cycling the big hills around Nambé. His devotion and loyalty particularly to the Raiders football team was legendary, even in his final days he couldn’t miss a Raiders game.
He was deeply passionate about politics, and although we didn’t come from the same side of the aisle our disagreements made us only challenge our perspectives rather than be heated. I learned so much from him, particularly on local issues. The world needs more people like John who can talk about politics without losing friendships or damaging relationships.
John was a devout Christian man, raising his kids in the Roman Catholic Church. During my brief time when I was an Atheist he tried to get me to return to God and was pleased when I did.
John was a devoted father to his children Matias and Lourdes, passionate about their growth and development. Even in his final days when he had trouble communicating I saw him passionately speaking with Lourdes over FaceTime as she came to see me graduate in Washington DC.
John was well known and well liked all across Santa Fe, during my time in politics many Santa Fe Politicians told me they knew my uncle, and always spoke highly of him. Being a fellow alumni of Pojoaque Valley Schools I always kind of lived in the shadow of the giants of my Grandfather and Uncle in the school district. Many teachers had stories about one or the other.
I found out about John’s diagnosis on my drive home from the airport after completing a job in Montana, my father didn’t know how to break the news to me. I wept most of the way home. ALS never beat John down though, he fought it hard and gave it hell, traveled a ton, went on teaching as long as he could, and advocated for his fellow pALS. Helped raise thousands of dollars for ALS research through his walking team “Just LeDoux it”. My Grandmother told me never complained and tackled every challenge with a smile. Even making funny jokes with British computer voice towards the end, always fast on his wit. He even figured out how to make it say slang local spanglish words through clever manipulations of English pronunciation, a language teacher even in his final days.
John would never describe himself as a techie but often he would be an early adopter of a lot of internet culture. He was on Facebook in the earliest of days and even sent me an invite to the platform. He was an avid Myspace user, and he always loved playing with new technology. He is also responsible for introducing me to video games, the first video game I ever played was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time on a Super Nintendo at his house.
My biggest regret is not spending more time with him. My uncle John was the closest living family I had but our lives were so busy we just didn’t spend much time together. Both living in Nambé a 15 minute walk away it seems ridiculous in hindsight. I also regret getting in stupid fights with him during middle school, this was a shameful part of my life something I still think about. Life is too short to spend time getting angry over small family disagreements. Something my angsty teenage self never understood.
I will always love you Tio, I really can’t believe you’re gone. I got to tell you my final words over the phone yesterday, unfortunately it was a jumbled mess because I’ve been extremely busy at work here in Florida and really haven’t even had much time to process this. I wish I was in New Mexico so badly right now. I love you so much and miss you so much already. I will never forget you and try my best to make you proud. God bless you John.
