Somerton man passes away from post-COVID19 complications

Roberto Meza fought a courageous battle against this pandemic and passed away

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Robert Meza from Somerton was best described as a family man who spent the last years of his life-giving back to his city.

He fell victim to COVID-19 and died of the virus last month.

Meza's wife describes him as someone who she never saw angry and loved to help his community. He spent 10 years volunteering at the Senior Center in Somerton.

Meza's daughter says if her father wasn't helping out at their church or the senior center, he was home spending time with his family.

What she will always remember about Robert is randomly spotting him riding around town on his favorite bike.

At the end of April, his family says Meza came home from being out and felt tired and dizzy. He often suffered from strokes and seizures, and occasionally had blood clots because of those episodes. When Robert could no longer breathe, he was taken to the hospital where he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Meza spent three weeks hooked up to a ventilator. Eventually, he was cleared from having the coronavirus, but his fight was not over.

His family says that his organs began to slowly fail him, and they were told he didn't have much time to live after they removed him from the ventilator.

Meza's daughter says that his doctor gave their family the option to bring him home, where he can die peacefully around his loved ones, which they did.

Three days into his return back home, Meza died at 6:30 a.m. on May 18th.

Robert was able to have a small funeral, where loved ones said their last goodbyes. Due to social distancing protocols, only 25 people attended the funeral and were required to wear masks.

A GoFundMe was set up for Meza's family, where he was described to be the "man of the house," the funds will be for his family he has left behind.