Roll Call Tribute

Antonio F. Sarabando, Jr. 

December 19, 1963 - June 3, 2023 

Antonio Francisco Sarabando, Jr. passed away on June 3, 2023 in West Palm Beach,
Florida due to complications from a hemorrhagic stroke. In May 1988, Tony received a
BA in Environmental Design and a second BA in Landscape Architecture from Texas
A&M University, College Station.

I will never understand why my brother was taken away at the age of 59, but I am
grateful to have always had his love and support throughout my own life. Tony left
behind many childhood, college, and community relationships that have moved with him
from our small town of Tarrytown, New York, to College Station, Texas, then to
Hackensack and Cinnaminson, New Jersey, and finally to the community of Wellington
in West Palm Beach, Florida. Tony had moved to Florida upon the death of our father,
Antonio Francisco, Tony’s namesake.

Tony’s professional life included working for Pergament’s home improvement in New
York and New Jersey and then for Home Depot in New Jersey and Dallas. Tony became
a store planner and project manager, eventually overseeing the process of his own
designs turning into reality.

Whether he would admit it or not, my brother was very good at “nesting.” He moved
quite a few times in his life, but was always quick to put down roots and welcome others
into the fold. When our father passed in 2009, Tony moved into our parents’ retirement
home which he himself had designed in the mid 1990s. He visited our Alzheimer’s stricken
mother frequently in her assisted living home and spread his good cheer, love,
and support to the other ladies in residence for over three years until Mom passed
quietly in 2013. One of the things I love about Tony the most is that he continued his
visits to Mom’s assisted living home for months after her death and continued to bring
flowers and magazines and books of puzzles and his positive attitude and smile to the
ladies and caretakers in residence. I think he realized he would miss them as much as
they might miss him.

Tony continued on in West Palm Beach where he became an active member of the local
art community, participating in Fort Lauderdale Art Basel several years as well as
mounting a solo art show at the Broward Art Guild in 2013.

A few years ago after I was hospitalized with my own health scare, Tony shared with me
his wishes for his own “burial” should he precede me in death. Tony was not one for
ceremony and his wishes to have his ashes scattered around the two crape myrtles
flanking the Sul Ross Statue on campus were about as formal a ceremony as he could
dream up. Although I did not (and could never) fulfill my brother’s final wishes, I did
manage to spread the ashes of his two A&M diplomas on his designated site. Tony’s
own ashes are interred at the Aggie Field of Honor Cemetery along with his class ring,
our father’s rosary, and the ashes of his beloved rescue dog, Addison. They now have a
beautiful and unobstructed view of Kyle Field for every home game.