Roger Christopher Mendoza
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Roger Christopher Mendoza was born in Houston, Texas on August 18, 1968, the older son of Roger Mendoza, DDS, and Ellen McGowan Mendoza. Chris enjoyed gardening with his dad, supplying family and neighbors with tomatoes and growing our own Halloween pumpkin. When Chris and his younger brother David enrolled in karate, Chris embraced a sport that didn't rely on keen vision. With much practice and hard work, he attained the level of red belt. During his high school years, Chris discovered heavy metal rock and became a life-long fan.
Chris attended St. Mary's College of California in Moraga, getting his B.A. with a concentration in Political Science. With the advice and encouragement of two attorney uncles, Patrick McGowan, his mother's brother, and Joe Hernandez, his father's first cousin, Chris enrolled in San Francisco College of Law, earning his Doctor of Laws in 1995. He worked at Disability Rights Advocates in Oakland and then at University of California - Berkeley, Optometry Dept. In 2000, Chris began his association with Conard House Inc, a non-profit company providing community-based outreach services and residential sites for the mentally ill. Chris worked for Conard House for twenty years becoming the associate director of operations.
In 2004, Chris married Kwan Malaithong. Their shared a love of gardening and together created a back yard planted with trees that grew to bear avocados, persimmons, apples and lemons. Chris never lost his love of heavy metal music, entertaining his mom (and probably the upstairs neighbors) with clips of Lynyrd Skynyrd Bob Dylan and Ice T at the Oakland Coliseum.
Though Roger and Kwan divorced, in recent years Kwan, her son Glen and Chris resumed a friendship that supported him through doctors' appointments, surgeries and hospitalizations as his health declined.
Chris passed away at the age of 53 from recurrent complications at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland on October 15, 2021. He has been brought back to Texas and will be buried near his late father in Galveston.
Chris is survived by his mother Ellen Mendoza, Brother David Michael Mendoza, Aunts Tricia McGowan, Connie Garza and Teresa Vargas, Uncle Al Mendoza, former -wife Kwan Malaithong and stepson Glen Fitton, cousins Rene and Cindy Garza, Robert and Kathy Garza, Lisa and Manuel Trevino, Jim Rodriguez, Gilbert Rodriguez, Frank and Donna Vargas, Alex Vargas, Kay and Susan McGowan numerous other cousins and his San Antonio second cousins from his Uncle Joe.
Services for Roger Christopher Mendoza will be held Saturday, November 20, at Carnes Brothers Funeral Home, 1201 23rd Street, in Galveston. Services will begin at 11:00am, followed by interment at Calvary Cemetery 2506- 65th Street in Galveston. A reception and luncheon at Gaido's 3828 Seawall Blvd. will follow.