By Amanda Lozano
There was nothing remarkable about the cup of coffee.
It was simply a cup of coffee shared between brothers, one of countless ordinary moments that seemed insignificant at the time. Today, Mike Dominguez thinks about it often.
Each time that I make coffee, at some point I think about that cup of coffee we had. There was nothing special. I didn’t think anything of it, but it ended up being something that is pretty special.
For the family of Ronald Troy Dominguez, memories like that have taken on new meaning since his unexpected passing on July 22, 2024, at age 56.
Troy was a husband, father, son and brother whose life centered largely around his family, particularly his daughter, Emily. His family described fatherhood as his greatest accomplishment, and that devotion extended into advocacy for people with disabilities through organizations including the Williams Syndrome Association and Special Olympics.
After his death, Troy’s legacy continued in another way: through organ and tissue donation. His organ donation was facilitated through Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, while South Texas Blood & Tissue helped facilitate his tissue donation, allowing Troy’s generosity to continue beyond his lifetime.
For his family, the donation process also meant learning more about the different ways a person can give after passing. Troy’s family remembers the organ donation as well as the tissue donation facilitated through the organization. Though the two processes are separate, together they became part of the same story: Troy was able to help others after passing.
That knowledge has given his family another way to think about his legacy. In the midst of grief, knowing something meaningful could come from their loss has helped connect the life they shared with Troy to people they may never meet.
But when his family talks about Troy, it is often the smaller moments that bring him back most vividly.
For his wife, Priscilla, those memories stretch across the life they built together, becoming spouses and parents, caring for family, and navigating everyday life side by side.
One of her favorites comes from when their daughter was young. Troy wanted Priscilla to get some sleep, so in the middle of the night — sometimes between midnight and 3 a.m. — he would take their daughter with him to Walmart to do the grocery shopping.
He was very, very, very proud of himself for that because this was the one thing that he could kind of do.
She can still remember waking up, momentarily panicked to find her baby gone, only to see Troy and their daughter eventually coming back through the door carrying groceries. Now, those memories make her laugh.
When I think about them and I miss him the most, I laugh about those things.
His mother, Diana Armstrong, has her own small memories of Troy, including a story involving turtles: as a child he gave his last $20 to a wildlife preservation.
He was always that giving, even from a young age.
It was another one of those family moments that may have seemed ordinary then but carries a different weight now.
Taken together, the stories his family tells paint a picture of someone who gave naturally and freely. Whether he was taking care of his family, helping someone who needed him or simply showing up in the everyday ways that mattered, generosity was part of who Troy was: simply someone who enjoyed “helping anyone he could.”
That is also why his family agrees Troy would be happy knowing his decision to donate helped other people. To them, donation fits the man they knew.
He was just that giving.
And ultimately, those ordinary pieces of Troy that his family continues to carry.
A late-night grocery run. A story about saving turtles. A conversation. Laughter.
A typical cup of coffee.
For Mike, that realization has become part of remembering his brother.
There’s a lot of those moments. That’s just a testament to all the love that we had for our brother and our son and our husband.
Troy’s donation is another part of that legacy. It’s one that continues beyond the memories held by the people who knew him best.
And that is what makes an ordinary moment so extraordinary after all.
You never quite know how far its impact travels.
