Noted Gallup figure, Pete Derizotis, dies at age 74

Pete Derizotis, seen in this 2002 file photo, died Wednesday in Farmington. [Jeff Jones/Independent file photo]

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — If you lived in Gallup in the 1970s and 1980s, you probably came in contact with Paris 'Pete' Derizotis, who died in Farmington Wednesday.

As a 2002 profile of him in this paper said discussing his relation with people in our county: "He had either cooked for them, married them, heard their problems, listened to their political concerns or sent them to jail."

He had been very active in McKinley County politics in the 1970s, serving as a state representative for four years. He had also owned several restaurants in this area and served as a state magistrate for 18 years before moving to Farmington and taking over as a temporary magistrate there.

He was a "classic" Gallup personality, said Mayor Bob Rosebrough.

"I have never known anyone who enjoyed the act of politics as much as he did," Rosebrough said.

Derizotis, 74, was born March 15, 1931 in Kutsapogi, Greece to Ehristos and Vasiliki Derizotis.

When he came to Gallup in the 1950s, he still had a heavy accent and his friends said his Greek accent became part of his personality throughout his lifetime.

One Gallup resident said when she got married to her husband, they went to Derizotis, who performed the marriage ceremony. When it was over, they looked at each other and the woman said they have wondered ever since exactly what vows they had agreed to during the ceremony.

Rosebrough said the first time he met Derizotis was in 1978 when Rosebrough had just graduated from law school and had taken a position as law clerk for the New Mexico Court of Appeals.

"He was famous in the Supreme Court offices for his lobbying efforts on behalf of the magistrate courts," Rosebrough said.

Even with a Greek accent, there were few people in the state who could match his ability as a lobbyist, Rosebrough said,

"He just had that ability to make a personal connection," he said. "He was extremely effective."

It would be almost impossible to find anyone in Gallup who didn't like Derizotis or enjoy being in his company, said Paul McCollum, who remembered the two and a half years Derizotis had spent with the city of Gallup as director of alcoholism programs.

"He was a good man," McCollum said, with a great love for people.

He also had a love of cooking, spending his early years working in various area restaurants including theWhite Cafe and the Manhattan Cafe. He also owned restaurants including El Morro Cafe on Coal Avenue and Pete's Fine Foods at the West Y and also his own in Gallup and Yah-Ta-Hey.

One of his life-long friends and he had many in Gallup was former mayor and current magistrate George Galanis, who remembers his "entertaining" personality. "He had a very dramatic way of expressing his views," he said.

"He was the type of guy who would do anything for you," said McCollum, "even if he had to take money out of his own pocket."

In his own profile that he wrote in 1978, Derizotis said his interest in politics came when he was a student at the University of Athens where he majored in politic science and economics.

Mary Ann Armijo, who is on the city council and who served for several years as head of the McKinley County Democratic Party, remembers her early years as a young Democrat and Derizotis being very active in the party and also being a big promoter of getting young people more involved in party politics.

After his first wife, Minnie, died in 1992, Derizotis retired as a magistrate. He met his second wife, Wanda, through an attorney friend who was helping her negotiate the sale of her business in South Dakota.

The two clicked and, with the support of the four children on each side, decided to get married, They then spent the next few years traveling throughout Greece and Europe and when they came back, they settled in Farmington, where shortly thereafter, he was named to be a magistrate up there to replace Linda Easton, who was retiring.

This, said Rosebrough, shows Derizotis at his political best.

"Once he arrived in Farmington, he immediately became a political force," he said.

Brewer, Lee & Larkin Funeral Home in Farmington is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation will be on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the funeral home and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Sunday at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 2100 E. 20th Street, in Farmington.

The funeral mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Catholic Church with Monsignor Leo Gomez, V.G. celebrant.