This family history now narrows to the story of Andrés and María Engracia, whom we lovingly called Papá Andrés and Mamá María⁵. In the latter part of 1912, after the partition of the land, Andrés told his wife that after harvesting the crops in the coming year, he was planning to move their house to the land that he had inherited from his parents, Eleuterio and Andrea Sáenz. Papá Andrés renamed the ranch San Andrés.

In the early part of 1913, Papá Andrés asked his brother-in-law, José Barrera, to drill a water well on the ranch. Mr. Barrera used a pounding machine, a máquina de golpe, which required two mules to go around and around in a circle pulling an extended lever attached to a large gearbox.

Unfortunately, Papá Andrés did not live to see the year's end. He passed away shortly after hosting another family celebration. It had been the family's custom to celebrate some of the feast days of the Roman Catholic saints. On June 24th, the feast of St. John the Baptist, known in South Texas as el día de San Juan, Papá Andrés took his accordion to serenade, or dar serenatas, his sisters and brothers at their homes. That particular day it rained continually and was unusually cold; Papá Andrés got wet going from one house to another. He caught a cold, and the fever lasted a few days, then he contracted pneumonia. He was in a lot of pain, and finally the family decided to take him to see Dr. Strickland in Alice, Texas. Since it had been raining for many days, the creek, or arroyo, at La Bandera was in crest and very deep in places. The family decided Papá Andrés should stay at Felix Valadez's house while they sent someone for Dr. Strickland. The home of Felix Valadezand his wife, Leonardita, was a one-room frame house. Natalia was only five years old at the time, but she remembers her father lying uncomfortably on a mattress in a lot of pain. Anastacia was only three years old and does not remember anything about her father. The doctor arrived and gave him some medicine, but it was too late to help him. Papá Andrés died at 3:00 p.m. on July 4, 1913.

The family wrapped his body in white sheets and loaded it onto the mule-drawn wagon to take it home. Since it had been raining, they secured wooden bows and canvas over the wagon. With the ground so wet, they had to avoid the lagoons, crossing gullies and washes, or derramaderos, away from the regular road tracks. The rain continued all day long.

It was a very sad day for the family. They cried all the way home inside the wagon. Praxedis, who had just turned eighteen, was the oldest son. He would always refer to that day as the saddest day of his life. He never celebrated the 4th of July again.

The family finally arrived at Rancho El Fresnillo late that afternoon. They placed their father's body, still covered in white sheets, on the kitchen table to lie in state. To sanctify the site, they placed crystal glasses with white candles held upright by kernels of corn. The six white candles burned all night long. They later changed his clothes and placed him in a coffin.

Papá Andrés was buried on July 5th, 1913. A mule-drawn wagon took his body to the cemetery at Santo Niño. As was the custom, the family and friends walked behind the wagon all the way to the cemetery. Papá Andrés was a member of the Woodmen of the World Insurance Society, so his tomb marker is the kind used for members of that particular association at that time⁶. After the burial, the family went into an extended period of mourning. Families mourned the death of a very close relative for one year, although younger people sometimes mourned for only six months.