GILBERT JOE CISNEROS

1925-2021

Gilbert Joe Cisneros died peacefully, surrounded by family January 27th of heart failure at age 95.

Born in San Antonio, Cisneros was only 16 when he enlisted in the Navy during WWII. His ship, the USS John Penn was sunk by a Kamikaze pilot, over half the ship’s population perished. During the heat of battle, Cisneros landed troops and cargo under enemy fire throughout the Pacific campaign including Guadalcanal, Guam and Iwo Jima. He was awarded the Purple Heart. His many commendations for bravery include the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with three Bronze Stars. After honorable discharge, he married Angela Menchaca. They remained at each other’s side for 67 years. Cisneros moved to South Houston in 1963 as part of the first wave of employees hired at NASA as a Mechanical Engineering Technician and worked on Apollo missions, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, and Challenger. Cisneros graduated from the Harris County Sheriff ’s Academy in 1971, served as a reserve officer, a Deputy Constable for H.C. Precinct 8, the South Houston Police Department and at Pasadena ISD as a security officer. He also served on SoHo City Council and as Police Commissioner. He volunteered at St Pius Catholic Church in Pasadena and was a Knight of Columbus. He joins in death, his wife Angela and daughter Sylvia. He is survived by his daughter Cynthia and three grandchildren. His funeral service is Feb 4th at 2pm at Southpark Funeral Home in Pearland.