Muralist, plumber, political candidate called a character

Mar. 26—Felipe Cabeza de Vaca was many things — artist, muralist, plumber, contractor, political candidate, science nut and, perhaps most importantly, a character.

He was, in fact, according to his nephew John Felix, one of the last great characters of old-time Santa Fe, a man who wore a lot of hats while entertaining folks with sometimes outrageous pranks.

"He was insanely interesting; he didn't think like other people," Felix said of his uncle, who died March 18 in his Santa Fe home of a heart attack.

He was 83 years old, said one of his daughters, Perla Druilhet Perla Anna Cabeza de Vaca.

"He was witty, incredibly intelligent and everything he did made people laugh all the time," she said, adding he liked to joke, "I am not the answer, I am the question."

Among other achievements, Cabeza de Vaca ran a long-gone space and science center on St. Francis Drive and helped paint a number of murals in town, including the one still visible on the wall of the former Empire Builders Supply Co. structure on Cerrillos Road.

Cabeza de Vaca was born on May 19, 1940, in Santa Fe. After graduating from Santa Fe High School, he joined the U.S. Army and served from 1957 to 1960, according to his daughter.

He lived with the first of three wives in California for a time in the 1960s, where, Druilhet said, he began plumbing. He also took drafting classes at Los Angeles City College, Felix said.

Returning to Santa Fe, he worked as a contractor, muralist and plumber — "Kiss The Old Outhouse Goodbye" was his company slogan, Felix said — and ran for various city offices.

He made at least one run for mayor in a five-man race for the job in the mid-1980s, losing to Sam Pick.

Former Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Steve Terrell said Cabeza de Vaca was "always running for office" and made candidate debates "fun."

Felix recalled one such debate for a City Council seat in which Cabeza de Vaca's opponent "sang" his responses to debate questions.

"Felipe said, 'If you are going to sing, I'm going to dance,' " Felix said. "His races were always like that."

Felix said his uncle would pull silly stunts like sticking Green Slime putty up his nostrils to give off the impression he needed a good nose blowing or using a pair of women's underwear to wipe down plumbing pipes while on the job — actions that generally led to double takes and looks of concern from those who witnessed them.

He ran the space science center for years, busing school children in for field trips, running films and giving presentations on various aspects of science and space, Felix and Terrell said.

Both NASA and the FBI mistakingly sent him material and film footage — including of a supposed UFO — for use in the museum, Druilhet recalled with a laugh. Some FBI agents visited the site once to get their material back as it was apparently classified, she said.

Married and divorced three times, including to the late muralist Zara Kriegstein, Cabeza de Vaca is survived by two sisters and three children, Felix said.

The family plans a military memorial service for him at the Santa Fe National Cemetery later in the spring, Druilhet said.