Jose Amado Duarte was born in Agua Prieta, Sonora, MX on May 17th, 1973, to Amado and Paula Duarte. At a young age, his family moved to Douglas, AZ where he remained a lifelong resident. Jose attended school in Douglas and was a proud graduate of Douglas High School class of 1991, "Once a Bulldog, Always a Bulldog". Jose, the youngest of four, had a wonderful family and considered himself very blessed.

Jose is preceded in death by his mother, Paula. He is survived by his wife Tanya, his three children Kathleen, Joseph, and Makenzie. He is also survived by his grandmother Octaviana, his father Amado, and his three siblings, Jesus (Joanie), Pablo (Pamela) and Laura along with nieces and nephews Michelle (Fernando), Dominique (Ryan), Ashley (Jerry), Pamela, Pablo, Carlee, Alex, Gehrig, Diego, Fausto (Jeanette) and Robert. Also survived by his great nieces and nephews Daniel, Rene, Genevieve and Remmy. On Tanya's side of the family, he is survived by Omar (Eliza), Maria (Klaus), Liz (Tom), Eli (Rajni) and Jennifer. Including his nephews and nieces, Robin (Heather and children Melina and Presley), Jameela, Soleini, Aidan and Nate.  He is also survived by numerous Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and his Godchildren included Abigail, Christian and Santiago Chavez along with Diego Duarte.

Having worked as a Dispatcher for two years prior to Jose becoming a Douglas Police Officer in 1997, he met his wife, Tanya, on duty while she worked with Douglas Fire Department. They struck up a great conversation and it lasted 25 years.

There was nothing more fulfilling in his life than family time especially holidays, Disney, and a summer cookout or 10. Jose was a bit of a prankster and loved laughing and playing jokes on all the nieces and nephews.

Jose was dedicated to his family and dedicated to the community. He coached his children's baseball, soccer, softball teams and was a great cheer-dad; his children were his greatest source of pride and he loved to brag what fantastic people they are. He and Tanya ran the Douglas Police Explorers from 1998 to 2011 and considered the Explorers their children as well.

His friendships lasted lifetimes and he felt fortunate to have his friends in his life. His times with John Chavez and Tommy Romero were some of his favorites. He maintained long friendships with many former and most recent co-workers. He shared hundreds of stories of his most memorable events with anyone he possibly could tell.

Jose Retired from DPD in 2020 and began with ADOT Enforcement and Compliance Division in San Simon two days later. He was dedicated to working and learning new things. Being in San Simon he created new brothers that he truly missed when he promoted to Sgt and transferred to Douglas ADOTECD.

With Jose's initial cancer diagnosis the entire family was humbled by the outpouring of support from the community. Through his years of treatments, he continued to work. The community continued to support and guide him to the end. With his final stages and after he passed, many stories have been told about the positive impact that he made on others, especially the youths he worked with.

His LT. Jason Sloan summed him up best. "Jose was a very knowledgeable, passionate, positive and inspirational person. He strived to make a difference every day and continue to increase his knowledge and training. Jose was not just an officer he was always involved within his community as a true public servant should, with the exceptional integrity and passion. Always willing to help, always willing to do more, and if you ever needed him, one call and he was there."

Jose's family would like to say thank you to everyone who played a special role in his life and gave support to him and his family. He absolutely felt loved to his final moments. He will be missed.