John Navarrette

John Navarrette, age 69 lost his battle with cancer on June 4th 2025. Born & raised in Omaha, NE. John attended Train School, Bancroft Jr. High, and Omaha South High School. He joined the navy after high school attending Palomar Medical in San Diego, becoming a corpsman.

His true passion was food. If he was cooking, he was happy! If you’ve been in Omaha since 1977, odds are good you have eaten a meal created by him!

He opened his first restaurant El Ranchito in 1978. His second restaurant was Navarrette’s (On the markets edge) in 1990. He was a member of the Omaha Restaurant Association for many years & continued working in the food service industry his entire career until finally retiring in September 2024. He just loved to entertain, whether it was cooking up a delicious meal, had a mic in his hand or hitting the dance floor! He will be dearly missed.

John is survived by his children, Jonathan Navarrette (Madeline), Dena Modra (Kyl) and Giovanni Navarrette; grandchildren, Donovan, Nadia, Hero; significant other, Marilyn Pauling; brother, Michael (Sharon) Navarrette; sister, Lydia Navarrette and a host of bonus siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, other loving family and friends. He is preceded in death by his mother, Micaela Garza; step father, Manuel Garza; father, Albert Navarrette and brother, Pierre Navarrette.

There will be a Celebration of Life on Sunday, July 6, 2025 at Sons of Italy, 1238 S 10th Street, Omaha NE from 2 - 6 PM.

In lieu of flowers, any monetary donations will be applied to a culinary scholarship in John’s name. John was one of the first 2 males to take Home Ec. class at South high school.