Federico Alfonso Montoya

Federico Alfonso Montoya, age 81, and a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, passed away on January 20, 2026. Federico was preceded in death by his father, Manuel B. Montoya; mother, Rafaelita Baca-Montoya; siblings, Clara Pizarro, and Emil Montoya; son, Vincent Montoya and “Baby Montoya”. Mr. Montoya is survived by his wife of fifty-nine years and was married the first day they met to, Victoria Giron-Montoya; children, Jacquelyn Montoya, Andrew Montoya and wife, Laura, and Liza Montoya; grandchildren, Ashleigh, Aleigha, Samantha, Sabra, Sarah, Rios, Mannie, Matthew, Krisstell, Angelina, Andrew Jr., Krisstian, Sofia, Annie and Nadyah; great-grandchildren, Gabriel, Dominic, Ariah, Santiago, Dominick, Ariel, Josiah; siblings, Geneva Padilla, and Leo Montoya. He was also survived by many extending family members and Loving friends. His career was very colorful as a chef at the Ambassador Hotel and cooked for named celebrities such as Art Linkletter, Johnny Carson, Fred Harvey and Regis Philbin. He was part of the Aerospace Engineering assembling parts for Apollo Space Center. He worked as a Uranium miner for about eight years in different areas and retired in 1978. His hobbies were music, as he was a master musician and member of five bands, which included recording and producing, especially gospel and old classic country. He loved puzzles, and preaching to anyone who would listen to him; he was a Monopoly champ, and he loved to participate and coach in numerous sports, playing pool with friends and loved to brag that he was undefeated in ping-pong, and gymnastics. Family was the most important thing to him in life and his other prized possessions include a mandolin, and his Victoria’s secret beanie. He was an active volunteer especially to veterans and those in nursing homes where he loved playing music for them. He loved to brag about his grandchildren to everyone he met. He will be dearly missed. A visitation will be held in the Gabaldon Memorial Chapel 1000 Old Coors Dr. SW on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Celebration of Life will follow at 3:00 p.m. The family request donations in lieu of flowers to offset funeral costs or live plants.

“Not by my Strength … but by his”