Jose "Joe" Rangel, was called to heaven at the age 62.  He was known as "Joe", "Joe sensei", and "Aiki Joe sensei."  He lived a fruitful life from March 13, 1958 until February 2, 2021.  He was preceded in death by his father Alfonso Riojas, his brother Julio Riojas, and his sister Mary R Rodriguez.  He is loved and will be missed by his wife, Lydia Rangel, to whom he was married 20 years. Besides his wife, Lydia Rangel, Joe is survived by his  Mother: Maria Riojas, his son: Joseph C. Rangel, his daughter: Cynthia (Paul), Grandsons : Anthony Flores Jr., Brian I. Flores, one great granddaughter: Adalyn Charli Flores and his Siblings: Doris McCaleb (Virgil), Ralph Riojas (Debbie), Diana Perez (Rudy), Helen Saucedo (Vincent), Gloria Miller (Ray), Eddie Riojas and Martin Riojas.  Joe is also survived by his aunt Margarita Leija and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends that will miss him dearly.

Joe served our country proudly on active duty as a United States Marine Corps and he was honorably discharged in February 1983.  Additionally, he served in the Army National Guard and was honorably discharged in April 1980.

Joe was introduced to the martial arts in his early teens, naming Kempo, as his first love in martial arts. He studied martial arts for three years while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

Joe, informally, began his practice of Aikido in 1992 and eventually joined Aikido of San Antonio and became a member of the Midwest Aikido Federation led by Akira Tohei Shihan (Master Instructor), 8th dan (8th degree black belt).

In the spring of 2003, Joe co-founded an ASU dojo in San Antonio, Texas with a couple of other Yudansha (black belt ranked Aikido practioners). He was honored with a personal invitation to a Sho dan (black belt) Instructors only training session at Saotome Sensei's Aiki Shrine Dojo in Florida.

Joe sensei was invited and joined the Shudokan Aikido Association in April 2005.  Soon after, in early June 2005, Joe tested for and was promoted to ni dan (second degree black belt) by Kato Sensei at a Friendship Seminar held in Houston, Texas which was hosted by his long time friend and President of the SAA, Jorge Garcia sensei.  Joe founded and established Shugenkan Aikido later in July with Kato Sensei's approval and is affiliated with his Suginami Aikikai dojo, Aikido World Headquarters, (Hombu Dojo) in Tokyo.  Joe was appointed the Instructor rank of Fuku-Shidoin in September 2005 and served the Greater San Antonio area and local South-Central community as Dojo-Cho (branch school Chief Instructor).  Joe sensei also tested for and was promoted to san dan (3rd degree black belt) by Sensei Hiroshi Kato in November 2007.

In the Summer of 2007, seeking to learn more about the Aiki-jutsu roots of Aikido, he was invited by his childhood friend, martial artist, and brother Mason, Jose E. Lopez Jr., to attend his Southern USA Region Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Roppokai Branch seminar. At the seminar, Joe met Grandmaster Okamoto Seigo of the Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Roppokai school headquarter Tokyo, Japan.  While enjoying the seminar, Joe was so excited about the training that he petitioned membership in the school and commenced his training with the Southern USA Region Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Roppokai Texas Branch Texas from 2007 to December 2020.

Joe attended a Daito-ryu seminar in Oregon hosted by Desmond Harpster sensei and Jose E. Lopez Jr. sensei in July 2016.  At the seminar Grandmaster Hayashi Masaaki and Jose E. Lopez sensei surprised Joe by having arranged for Joe to take his  Sho dan "test" that weekend.  Joe sensei was promoted to 1st degree black belt in Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Roppokai after test results came back favorably from Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Roppokai headquartersin in Tokyo, Japan.

Additionally, Joe sensei's passion for learning about martial arts led him to seek samurai martial arts training from Grandmaster Asano from Japan and from Jose E. Lopez Jr. who is also a samurai martial arts instructor from the Japan Budo Association Tokyo, Japan.  Joe petitioned membership in Japan Budo association in 2018 and was approved to be a leader of the JBA Branch, San Antonio, Texas to represent Japanese samurai arts and culture.

Joe 's passion for martial arts was tremendous and he shared his martial arts knowledge with countless students and non-students.  He will continue his martial training in heaven with the Lord and other martial arts people in heaven.  Shugenkan Aikido doors officially closed in March 2020 due to COVID concerns.

Additionally, Joe was a Master Mason and one of the leaders at the Triune Mason Lodge #15 A.F.&A.M., here in San Antonio where he is a lifetime Master Mason member.

Our family would like to give a special thank you to all the nursing staff and Dr's at University Hospital who worked tirelessly over the course of his hospital stay. They were not only friendly and knowledgeable with keeping the family informed of his care on a daily basis but also very attentive to his every need and treated him as if he was one of their own family members. Our hearts go out to each and every one of them and we will forever be grateful.