‘There won’t be another guy like Robert Krentz’

More than 1,200 friends, relatives and dignitaries crowded into the Douglas High School gym Saturday morning to remember and celebrate the life of a “good man,” Robert Krentz. The Douglas-area rancher was found murdered March 27 on his ranch. The memorial Mass, celebrated by the Most Rev. Gerald F. Kicanas, bishop of the Roman Catholic Church’s Tucson Diocese, as well as the Rev. Gilbert Malu, the Rev. James Baka and the Rev. Armando Espinoza, was moved to the high school after it was realized that no other facility in the community was big enough to hold the crowd. Even with more than 1,200 seats available, there was standing room only for those at the service to honor and say goodbye to their family member and friend. The service’s feeling was a mix of reverence and remembrance of a man who had touched innumerable lives with simple acts of Christian service, Kicanas said. Calling Krentz a “steward of the creation,” the bishop cited Krentz’s care for the land. After the service, those who knew Krentz shared their thoughts on a man many said was one of a kind. “There won’t be another guy like Robert Krentz,” said Cheyenne Wilkins. “He was one of the last of a dying breed of good people.” “They’re the kind of family that would do anything for anybody,” he said, and Krentz “was the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.”...more