An Española School District bus contractor’s marriage to an Española lawyer less than a month before his death set off a bizarre dispute between his family and his wife, and left the future of his school bus empire up in the air.
Contractor Antonio J. Garcia married lawyer Yvonne K. Quinana Dec. 15, according to Santa Fe County Clerk recorder Erika Romero. Garcia, of Rio Chama, died at the age 50 of at St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe in the early hours of Jan. 11 after suffering from health problems for the last few years. Quintana, a former District lawyer, had filed for divorce from her husband of seven years, former city of Española planner Marvin Vigil, in May 2008.
A day after Garcia’s death, Quintana was at state District Court in Santa Fe requesting a restraining order against Garcia’s two sisters, Darlene Armijo and Cathy Salazar, court documents state. Quintana also requested access to Garcia’s financial accounts to pay for funeral expenses, and a protective order preventing his sisters from disposing of Garcia’s property or making any decisions regarding his businesses.
In her request for the restraining order, Quintana claims Garcia’s two sisters verbally abused her and made threats when she arrived in Garcia’s room the morning he died. She later had a security guard escort Armijo, Salazar and other allegedly hostile family members from the hospital room, the request states.
Armijo, Salazar and Quintana could not be reached for comment.
Garcia owned three bus companies that operated nine of the District’s bus routes, according to District and state Public Regulation Commission documents. The three contracts totalled $254,549 last school year, according to District documents.
A protective order awarded Jan. 13 forbids the two sisters from making changes to Garcia’s companies without Quintana’s approval and requires them to keep 100 yards away from her home and office and 50 yards away from her in public.
Though the restraining order states all three women could attend Garcia’s “rosary, funeral, interment and all other related functions” provided Armijo and Salazar stayed away from Quintana, several attendees said the family was absent from the rosary and funeral services, but attended the burial.
The order forbids both Quintana and Garcia’s sisters from disposing of his property and calls for an inventory of his bus equipment, which must be used to maintain his businesses.
The order does not address Yvonne Quintana’s requests that the sisters “provide an accounting for the six years that they have managed (Garcia’s)” personal and business assets.
Garcia’s businesses are currently being run by his niece, Roberta Salazar, who said Tuesday she is “not positive” who will take ownership of Garcia’s businesses.