A member of the 432nd Clover Squadron, First Lieutenant Gutierrez was a P38 fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater during WWII. Ralph passed quietly in his sleep early in the morning on Good Friday. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Helen Gutierrez; sister Genevieve Duran; three children, Ralph Gutierrez, Diana Gutierrez, and Mark Gutierrez and wife Laura; three grandchildren, David Gutierrez and wife Tara, Kathryn Gutierrez, and Holle Gutierrez; two great-grandchildren, Theodore and Phoebe Gutierrez; and numerous nieces and nephews. Born in Barelas, he grew up to enlist in the Army Air Corp as a P38 fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater during WWII. Returning to Albuquerque, he married Helen Lorraine Leavitt on Feb 6, 1946. They had three children and Ralph embarked on a lifelong career establishing his own wholesale grocery businesses, New Mexico Sales Co., United Grocers Assn. and finally, Ralph’s Road Sales. He established lifelong friendships from his days in business through his final years at St. John’s Rehabilitation.
