Jose Antonio Aguilar
Dec. 17, 1926-July 19, 2020
Park City, Utah
Dr. Jose Antonio Aguilar (Tony), husband to the late Mary Jane Aguilar and current wife Gerd Holmsen, father to Carlos Aguilar & Martha (Aguilar) O’Neill, grandfather to Morgan & Mary Jane O’Neill, and Peter, Matt and Emily Aguilar, step-grandfather to Andrew and Madeline Knauer, passed away on Sunday July 19, 2020 in Park City, Utah.
Born in Brilliant, New Mexico on December 17, 1926 to Florencio Aguilar of Spain and Maria Concepcion Miranda, a native American Indian and last of her tribe, Tony was one of four children. His siblings were Joe, Esther & Johnny. Due to his parent’s heritage, he was a first generation Mexican of which he was very proud.
His father was a coal miner who died of black lung when Tony was only a few years old. His mother supported the family by working her way up the coal mine trail, cooking for the miners. The family’s first house was a one room adobe structure. They made the bricks and built the house themselves.
Tony spent most of his young life in Raton, New Mexico. The family eventually settled in Colorado Springs, where his mother opened a restaurant, Maria’s Mexican Food & Steaks in order to support her family.
During World War II, Tony attended Louisiana State University and spent a year in the Air Force. After the war, he continued his education at The University of New Mexico. Upon graduation, he enrolled at the Medical School at Colorado State. He supported himself through college and medical school by boxing professionally, boasting only a single loss and winning a Golden Gloves Title.
In Medical School he met Mary Jane Boles, his wife of over 4 decades. He and Mary Jane married and moved to Montreal, where they attended McGill University Neurological Institute. After passing the boards in Neurosurgery, Tony retired from professional boxing. Tony and Mary Jane settled in Atherton, CA in 1964.
Tony had a long and distinguished career in Neurosurgery, most notably as a pioneer and specialist in Parkinson’s Disease. He worked at UCLA, Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco, Alexian Brothers in San Jose, and taught brain surgery at Stanford University, as well as serving on their Minority Admissions Board. He subsequently opened his own private practice in East San Jose. In his private practice he would often accept a crate of fresh fruit or a handmade shirt in lieu of payment. He was a man of the people, and his priority as a doctor was to help others, whether they had the ability to pay or not.
He and Mary Jane traveled all over the world, giving lectures and presenting papers to the global medical community. Upon retirement, they moved to Tucson, AZ, until Mary Jane’s passing in 1998.
Tony was an athlete. He ran, skied, cycled, hit his speed bag daily, and most of all played tennis, his favorite pastime. He would play tennis with anyone and everyone, young and old. He loved playing with the kids at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton. Throughout the years, he could be seen running laps around the polo field to stay in shape. His tennis game improved to the point that he earned a ranking in Northern California in the senior categories. He played every day into his 90’s, his reflexes at the net forever cat-like, only fitting for a man nicknamed “El Gato”.
He often told us how fortunate he was to find and marry Gerd Holmsen in 2003. He and Gerd settled in Park City, Utah near her daughter Tania (Peter) Knauer where he was a happy member of their family for 17 years.
In addition to his many athletic endeavors, Tony loved the moon, the winter solstice, dancing, listening to jazz, playing his harmonica, and his two-hour long breakfasts. Tony was brilliant, funny and often unpredictable, which only added to his appeal. Tony will be missed by all that knew and loved him!
Due to COVID-19 there will be an immediate family only celebration of his life at this time. The family hopes to have another celebration in the future with his friends and loved ones.
