Richard M. Lujan

Richard M. Lujan, 97, passed peacefully October 29, 2023 in Centennial, Colorado where he lived with his daughter Karen and son-in-law Kevin. Richard was born on June 1, 1926, in Mora, New Mexico.

Richard enlisted in the U.S. Navy on September 30,1942, where he served as a Bugler 1st Class aboard the USS Wyoming. He was honorably discharged on December 10,1946.

After WWII, Richard returned to Las Vegas, New Mexico where he married his beloved wife Maria Elena (Sena) on July 16, 1948. They moved to Albuquerque where he worked Sandia Laboratories for 38 years.

He is preceded in death by Maria Elena, who passed December 7, 2020. He is survived by their three children Gayle Schaefer, Richard Harold Lujan and Karen (Kevin) Jerde. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren as well as his sisters Pita Ulibarri and Maya Zamora, sister-in-law Kathy Martinez and brother- in-law Bert (Shelley) Sena, along with many nieces and nephews. 

Services for Richard will be held at Ft. Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado on November 15, 2023, at one p.m.

Loving Sentiments from Bert Sena

To my brother-in-law Dick, Dickie to his family, Dad to his children, rest in peace. We are all at ease with your passing because we know you didn't suffer from pain.

I struggle in this honor bestowed upon me to write your eulogy. How do I reduce seventy-six years we have known each other in a paragraph, chapter or a book?

You and my sister Mary Ellen were caring for me while mom was in the hospital. I recall your coming home from work in Las Vegas with a Hershey bar for me and telling me it would put hair on my chest.

You bought me a basketball and taught me how to dribble and shoot baskets at the lowered hoop you built for me. How about those fishing outings at the lake. My rod, a branch, my fishing line was a string with a rock tied to it for bait. Your efforts to keep me from throwing rocks into the lake and scaring the fish.

This was the beginning of our bond. I won't tell that you bought a seven-year-old a BB gun. It was you that bought me my full Cub Scout uniform.

Over the decades our friendship and love grew. There is so much more I could write, but how a relationship begins speaks volumes

for how it evolved. I shall reserve these stories in my heart until such time I can get together with our family and share stories.

To your children Gayle, Harold and Karen, I weep with you and rejoice because we were fortunate to have shared a life with your father, my brother. To your grand-children and great-grandchildren, I share the grief of your loss. I have not forgotten your sister nor nieces and nephews. I offer my condolences.