Arturo Nafarrate Moran

Arturo Nafarrate Morán (September 3, 1950 – September 27, 2025) passed away peacefully at home on September 27, 2025, at age 75 in Tucson, Arizona.

Arturo was born in the city of Obregón in Sonora Mexico on September 3, 1950 to Eloisa Acosta Nafarrate Morán and Leonardo Gonzalez Morán. He was the third child of seven children. As a child, he was known for pulling pranks on his siblings. During the blessing of the meal, he occasionally would get into trouble for throwing pieces of tortilla at his brothers and sisters as they prayed. He may have been a rumbunctious child, but he also woke up early to go sell flowers, tamales, or other goods before school in Nogales Sonora to help his mother. Later the family moved to Nogales Arizona and there he attended school until he was sent to Thunderbird Adventist Academy where he attended high school. After graduating high school, he went to La Sierra University where he worked in a milk factory milking cows to pay for his schooling. He later transferred to the University of Guadalajara where he began to study to become a doctor. Due to different circumstances, he did not complete his medical degree but would meet someone who would transform his life.

Arturo came to visit his parents in Tucson Arizona and visited the Tucson Seventh Day Adventist Spanish Central Church where he locked eyes with a lovely young woman from Texas by the name of Azairadema “Sara” Saucedo. He asked her out on a date and she accepted. Their first date was at the Magic Carpet Miniature Golf in 1973. Arturo and Sara married on October 19, 1975, in El Paso Texas. Arturo and Sara would have celebrated their 50th anniversary on October 19, 2025.

Arturo and Sara welcomed their first child Alina and three years later they welcomed their son Arturito Jr., his family was now complete. Arturo loved playing outside with his children, he was the only father in the neighborhood who played kickball, basketball, and baseball with his kids and the rest of the neighborhood children. Arturo was an amazing storyteller, he loved making up stories about animals, stories that taught a lesson, and la mano peluda. Alina and Arturito would beg him almost every night to tell them a story and would argue whose room he should tell the story in. To compromise, he would lay in the hallway between both their rooms, and they would go lay on the floor next to him to listen.

Arturo loved his children very much but once his first grandchild Roman arrived, a new level of love was unlocked. Arturo fell in love with his grandchildren Roman, Omar, Ariana, Viviana, and Brian from the moment he looked at their precious little faces. He loved singing “God is bigger than the boogie man” with Roman and later singing “Jesus loves the little children” with Briancito. His grandchildren helped him come out of depression many times throughout his health challenges whether it was singing, driving them around in his red trucks, or riding the grocery store scooters with them, he always felt great joy being in their presence. He carried each one of them in his heart up until the end. He deeply loved them all.

Arturo loved playing his guitar and singing with many of his friends and family. He loved laughing, cracking jokes with a serious face, and always was the center of attention amongst those he loved. Arturo and Sara welcomed family and friends to Sabbath lunches and offered their home as a place where all were welcome. Arturo may have had the temper of a wolverine at times, but if you needed him, he was there at a moment's notice, regardless of day or night, no questions asked. He may not have said it much, but he loved every one of his friends and family and cherished his time and memories with them.

After moving back to Tucson Arizona from Guadalajara, Arturo worked in the ER as a surgical technician and later transitioned to working exclusively with specialized doctors on eye surgeries. This work was hard, and it kept him away from his family quite often, so he decided to go back to school. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona in bilingual education and became a middle school teacher. He taught at Manzo elementary school, Wakefield Middle School, and Pistor Middle school as a science teacher. Later, Arturo went back to school and received his master’s degree from Northern Arizona University in school administration. He became an elementary school principal for the Gadsden Unified School District in San Luis, Arizona. Education was extremely important to Arturo, he felt working with underserved communities was his calling, his education background helped him fulfill this aspiration.

Arturo was an active member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church almost his entire life. He enjoyed singing praises and playing his guitar for the Lord. He enjoyed working with the youth of the church and would lead many of the youth classes. He enjoyed playing volleyball, participating in hayrides, giving talks about cataract surgeries, and presenting talks about issues facing the youth. One of the events he enjoyed organizing was having the youth visit each mom and serenading them the night before Mexican Mother’s Day. Arturo led 20 to 30 teens and young adults in singing Las Mañanitas to their mothers in the early hours of the morning and later, with the help of his beloved wife Sara, offered menudo and rest for the youth at their home.

Arturo was a self-taught guitarist, and a spark of joy filled his heart each time he played with his friends or alone. He played sweet inspirational hymns, romantic boleros, norteños, and other types of music. He absolutely loved his guitar and the sweet notes he strummed on it. Our hope is that his guitar will continue to be played and bring joy via his grandson Briancito who is now learning to play Tata’s guitar.

We will miss our Husband, Father, Tata, Tio, Brother, and Friend deeply, but what a beautiful hope we have to hold onto found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 that reads, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever”. Arturo was far from perfect, had many faults, but Jesus loved him and so did we. We look forward to forever with Arturo and our Lord.

Arturo was preceded in death by his parents Eloisa and Leonardo Morán and he is survived by his wife Azairadema “Sara” Morán, Daughter Alina Rowe (Brian), Son Arturo L. Morán (Corina), his grandchildren Roman, Omar, Ariana, Viviana, and Brian Jr. He is also survived by his siblings Maria, Humberto, Rolando, Griselda, Ramon, and Cesar and many nieces and nephews who he loved as his own.

Celebration of Life will be on October 19, 2025 at 11:00am at the Tucson Esperanza Spanish Seventh-Day Adventist Church located at 6255 S 12th Ave, Tucson, AZ 85706.