Andres (Andy) Lopez Jr.

Andres (Andy) Lopez, Jr. was born on September 15, 1972, in Denver City, Texas, the fifth of eight children born to parents Andres Jimenez Lopez, Sr. and Maria Salinas Lopez. As a child, he was a sociable young man who learned the value of hard work from his family’s example.

At Denver City High School, Andy was accomplished in sports, particularly in football, but he was a humble young man who preferred making everyone feel at home and happy than to be singled out for his achievements. His dream was to own his own property to ranch, work, and live on, surrounded by family.

Andy would meet and marry Maria Guadalupe “Lupe” Castillo, and they began their life together in Denver City. In their 22 years of marriage, they had two sons, Andrew Lopez, III, and Matthew Lopez. They relocated to central Texas where they spent time in LaGrange, Caldwell, and Snook, where he founded Boss-Chem Corporation in 2006. Three years later, the family relocated to Bryan in 2009.

Early in his work life, Andy wanted to become part of the booming oil industry in Texas. He had an inspiration for a chemical, which he named Boss-155, that would offer major improvement in the petroleum industry to overcome drilling resistance in the fields. After many trials in a home-based test lab, he invented an innovative drilling product that saw initial success when sold to petroleum company distributors.

Boss-Chem Corporation employed close to 70 people at one time, including many of his family members, many of whom once worked there during their careers. This was made possible because of Andy’s creative vision and the products he had created. Boss-Chem served companies involved in the production and distribution of drilling lubricants, drilling products, fracturing products, and completion products.

Andy’s sons, Andrew and Matthew, grew up working in and learning the business, together from their dad. Today, together with their uncle Alex, Boss-Chem continues to grow. Nothing made Andy happier than to be surrounded by his family and friends all the time. Lupe passed away suddenly in 2015. Andy continued on, focused on being a dad and building Boss-Chem together with his family.

In time away from work, Andy loved big game hunting and delighted in taking opportunities to hunt exotic animals in Africa as well as taking his sons with him on hunts. He loved hunting in both South Texas and East Texas.

Any competition, sports or otherwise, where Andy could challenge his excellent mind appealed to him. Whether handicapping horse races at the track, challenging odds at casinos, or making a competition out of a home ceiling fan, his mind constantly was filled with numbers. Mathematics was definitely his strong suit.

Andy taught his sons to work hard in business and was their mentor all of their lives through adulthood. They also learned the importance of faith in a higher power and to appreciate the blessings that they were given in their lifetimes. Andy had the heart of a servant and followed the scripture of Matthew, where it is advised to do all good works in secret so that the blessing of the gift may be given without ego or expectation.

Just one example of the many things he did was to learn, at an auction benefit, of a young girl who had cancer, and was a major fan of hunting, a regular viewer of the Hunting Channel on television, and with all her heart she wanted to go on a hunt. Andy made that happen, behind the scenes of course.

Sometimes he would do something out of the blue, whenever he discovered he could make a difference. He opened a restaurant in Snook, Texas, La Salada, because his mother and sister were such good cooks, he wanted them to have their own restaurant and have the joy of owning their own business. Andy was all about giving good people a chance to reach their potential and be happy.

In 2017, Andy was fortunate to meet Jennifer Becerra, and the couple were married July 5, 2019, making their home on the Lopez Ranch in Bryan, surrounded by all the family including Jennifer’s two children when they visited. Andy was delighted to find pleasure in taking time to garden with Jennifer; she would plant, and he would water.

Fishing also brought Andy solitude and joy and yet he enjoyed the competitive aspect of the competition as well whether it was a fishing trip to Alaska, hunting in Ohio, or a safari hunt in Africa.

Andy was driven to succeed by the joy of being creative, inventive, and the pleasure of finding a new way to solve an old problem. He liked to make fun of himself, calling himself “old school” as he went about solving problems. You wouldn’t find Andy using Google maps or other phone apps for directions.

Another charming thing about him was you would always be able to find two things in Andy’s truck, no matter where he was bound: his Atlas and his Bible. He definitely preferred time-tested paper resources to electronics that might fail if there was no cell service (“old school”). Together, they got him to wherever he was going each and every day of his life.

Speaking of phones, Andy was good about calling and talking to everyone, keeping in touch, but he was not one for goodbyes, long or otherwise. He just hung up when he was done talking, and everyone knew that was just his way. Andy was a fabulous promoter and salesman. He got everyone as excited about something as he was! And if you wondered where he was on a project, you might hear, “I got this!” He also knew when to insert a favorite phrase, “And this is where the cowboy rides away.”

A keen observer of current business trends, Andy’s limited time watching television was generally confined to his obsession with news and the business channels with a slight break occasionally for sports. As a hobby, he owned A’s bar in Bryan for a few years and enjoyed visiting with all of his friends who came to see him there.

Andy also enjoyed the company of older people who’d succeeded in business. They were mentors to him. In present-day business, Andy admired the talent and philanthropy of successful business owners who had started their businesses in modest surroundings and established companies based on solutions that could help people with what they could provide.

As such, Andy formulated dreams that came true including going on African safari hunts, owning his own private plane, and flying that plane to see the Master’s Golf Tournament in 2015.

There was only one person in life who Andy was so excited and proud to have met and been photographed with, to the point of wanting any visitor to see the photo: former President George H. W. Bush. Andy was invited to an oil and gas banquet, and of course that was the Bush family’s first business in Midland, Texas. Meeting a real-life hero was a once in a lifetime joy for him. The example President Bush set in terms of cherishing family and providing maximum time with them while also accomplishing dreams and goals was one that Andy modeled throughout his lifetime.

His math skills were so strong, he could just look at a table of numbers and know whether they were in the right ballpark or not. Andy Lopez was a man who had an infinite capacity to love all his family and friends, to inspire his sons to want to be the type of men they are today, and who had such love and pride in his entire family that every day with them he cherished forever.

In his lifetime, Andy Lopez was able to be loved and respected as a man of his word, for his high ethical values, and admired for his accomplishments and his Christian faith. As long as he had his Atlas and his Bible in his truck, he never lost his way, and his every journey was blessed by those he had the good fortune to know.

It may or may not be a coincidence but on June 14, 2021, at 15:55 military time, the man who invented Boss-155 completed his journey on earth, surrounded by his loving family. The significance of those three digits is not lost when realizing that the verse that he chose as his favorite, from the book of John, is John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Andy rejoined in Heaven those who preceded him in death, including his father, Andres Jimenez Lopez, Sr., first wife Lupe Lopez, and his nephew, Jeremy Mendoza Cruz and many other family and friends. He is survived by his mother, Maria Lopez; son, Andrew and wife, Luisa, and Andy’s soon-to-be-born first grandchild, Lucia Lupe Lopez; son, Matthew and wife, Lili; wife, Jennifer Lopez (and her children Hector Cardenas and Connie Martinez), his four brothers, Sammy Mendoza and wife, Lori; Alex Lopez and wife, Myrna, and children Ashley Maria, Alex Aaron, Annaliese Joy, and Aiden Jacob; Alonzo Lopez and wife, Beatrice, and children, Alexis, Alonzo Lopez, Jr., and Alijah; Angel Lopez; and three sisters, Amelia Hilburn and husband, Louis Hilburn, and children Eric Hilburn (and his wife, Erica); Christina Mendoza (and her children Crystal Lopez, Corina Michelle Mendoza (and her husband Christopher David Mendoza), Travis M. Gaspar, and Chelsey Gaspar; and sister, Carol Mendoza; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Services will be held on Monday, June 21, 2021, at Callaway-Jones Funeral & Cremation Centers, beginning with visitation from 2–4pm, followed by a Celebration of Life from 4–5 pm.

Condolences may be expressed online at CallawayJones.com.