Juan Francisco Saenz

Juan “Pancho” Francisco Saenz Jr., 62, of Irving, Texas passed away, Tuesday, January 25, 2022. He was born on January 21, 1960, in Laredo, Texas, the son of Juan Sr., and Zoila Saenz. Pancho grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas. In 1992 he rededicated his life to Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and savior at Calvary hill Baptist Church. Pancho was a general construction laborer who saved his earnings to start his own Tex-Mex restaurant, in the heart of East Dallas. He was always a silly joker, making everyone laugh with his homemade jokes. He would come home tired from the construction site, kick off his boots and say, “hey, I've got a great joke about construction, but I'm still working on it."; or "I used to hate facial hair, but then it grew on me”. When his grandson, Chris, was learning to be a barber, he practiced on his hair. One time he wrote his last name Saenz on the back of his head with lightning bolts on the side. Pancho said "Chris make sure to tell your clients that their hair is guaranteed to grow back". He always knew how to turn our frowns and our rolling of eyes into smiling faces by the end of the day. During Christmas he played the part of Old St. Nick "Santa Clause" saying “ho ho ho wachu want for Christmas” made all of us giggle with his Spanglish voice. You were a man of many faces...Dad... I love you and you are deeply missed!
He is preceded in death by his parents, Juan Francisco Saenz Sr., Zoila Alegria Saenz; and brother, Concepcion Saenz.
Pancho is survived by his loving daughter, Jessica Saenz and husband, Gilbert Barrera; grandchildren, Christian Saenz, Adrian Reyes, Abigail Gomez, and Caroline Barrera – Saenz; sister Soraida Sainz; brothers, Alberto C. Saenz, Genaro Saenz, Hector Saenz and Ignacio Saenz; 3 step children; 6 step grandchildren, 13 step great grandchildren; several loving nephews, nieces, cousins, and numerous other family and friends. The family will receive guests from 3:00-7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 10th at Chism-Smith Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, February 11th also at the Funeral Home with interment following at Mountain Creek Cemetery in Grand Prairie.