The Rev. David Espitia, pastor of St. Ann Church in Colorado City, passed away on Friday, June 13, 2003. He was 49. Rosary service tentatively is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, June 16, at St. Ann's Church in Colorado City. Mass of the Resurrection will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 17, at St. Ann's Church in Colorado City. Following the funeral Mass, burial will be in the Priest's Section in Calvary Cemetery in San Angelo. Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI, will be the main celebrant of the Mass and Bishop Joe Vasquez of Houston will give the homily. David Espitia was born May 7, 1954, in Coleman, Texas, to Raymond Espitia Sr. and Juanita Cardenas Espitia. He was the sixth of 10 children born to the couple. After graduating from high school, one year later he joined the U.S. Navy. He was honorably discharged from the Navy after four years of service. He then joined the Brigettine Monks, a contemplative order, where he spent five years in their monasteries in Charleston, W. Va.; Woodside, Calif.; and Amity, Ore., where he took temporary vows. Later he joined a Brigettine Monastery in Puebla, Mexico, for three years where he taught philosophy. Fr. Espitia entered St. Mary's Seminary in Houston in 1989 for the Diocese of San Angelo, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of San Angelo on May 21, 1994, at the Cathedral Church of the Sacred Heart in San Angelo. He served as Parochial Vicar at St. Anthony Church in Odessa from Aug. 1, 1994-July 1996; Parochial Administrator of St. Lawrence Church in Garden City from January-June 2000; and Pastor of St. Ann Church in Colorado City from July 2000 to the present. He served as Director of Vocations and Director of Seminarians of the Diocese of San Angelo from 1996-December 1999. He was a member of the Priests Personnel Board of the Diocese from 2001-present. Fr. David was preceded in death by his mother, Juanita Cardenas Espitia; three brothers, Porfie Espitia, Reyes Espitia and Roberto Espitia; and two sisters, Maria Espitia and Dorothy Espitia. He is survived by his father, Raymond Espitia Sr. of Coleman; and four brothers, Raymond Espitia Jr. and wife, Elvira, of Bangs, Texas, Joe Espitia and wife, Maria, of Fort Worth, Luciano "Jerry" Espitia and wife, Sammy, of Coleman, and Robert and Florence Espitia of Abilene. He also is survived by four sisters, Guadalupe Sanchez of Lake Elsenor, Calif., Mary Mendoza and husband, Cornelio, of Coleman, Gracie Gill and husband, Danny, of Abilene, Janey Gist and husband, James, of Dallas and Sylvia Salinaz and husband, Cipriano, of Coleman; and many nieces and nephews.

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"Teresa Weicht"
The transcription was taken from the San Angelo Standard Times.