Ramon Gutierrez

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1. My oldest brother, Raymond, and I had the privilege of spending the very last days with my Daddy as he slowly slipped away. Sitting at his bedside, holding his hand, it wasn’t long before a rush of memories filled my head. I smiled as I sat looking at my Father’s hand in mine because I remembered that it was always his hands that held my attention. They were so strong, and seemingly magical, because of all the things that he made and did with them. If they weren’t holding a flash light at night time as he made his rounds through dark rooms, checking the locks on the doors and windows to make sure the house was safe before he went to sleep, they were holding a hammer and pounding down nails into 2 x 4's to build a hoist with chains and pulleys to raise up his car and work his mechanics underneath it. Clenching a wrench of some kind, they were always covered in oil, and they smelled of oil. He smelled of oil, and of hand cleaner at the end of the day. And they were rough and scratchy, his hands. Rough and scratchy and that was ok with me because my Daddy’s hands made things, and they fixed things and there was never need to call in a mechanic or a handy man or even a plumber because those hands ran pipes underneath the house to keep the water running, and they fixed leaky faucets and the washing machine when it stopped working, and they mixed and poured cement for the driveway;. They installed fiber glass to insulate the house, and planted fruit trees in the back yard because they made my Mama happy.

   I remember the trailer he built to transport our belongings when we moved from El Paso to settle in East L.A. and the crate he built and attached to the back of his car for our dog, Penny Boy, to make the long trip in. Penny Boy didn’t fare well in the crate and ended up riding inside the car, laying across the top of the seat alongside the back window.

   My Daddy worked construction. He was the lead Foreman in the constructing of the Eagle Rock Plaza, and he proudly claimed having brought the Union Bank on Figueroa St. from the ground up. Heading home from Children’s Hospital one day, we got off the bus at the Union Bank work site for my Mama to show us where he worked. The building, in its early stages, was no more than the metal skeleton, up 26 stories high at that point. When we asked another worker for my Dad, he pointed up, all the way to the top, and said, ‘There he goes’. We looked up and saw him walking the length of a metal beam carrying a sack over his shoulder. The beams were separated by large gaps in between and when he reached the end of the beam he was on, he jumped across to the next one. My Mama gasped and held her breath, fearing he would fall to this death. I, on the other hand, was in total awe because I thought that my Daddy could fly.

   About 13 years ago we had a picnic at a park by my house. My Mama went for a walk around the park with my girls and my grand babies leaving me and my Daddy behind to set up the table and the food. As we sat waiting for them to return, a huge, black triangle - a Stealth aircraft - flew, soundlessly and almost as in slow motion, over our heads. My Daddy caught sight of it and jumped up to his feet, pointing at it and waving his hands all about. He was tickled; laughing and giggling. He reminded me of a little boy. This is probably my most favorite memory of my Daddy.

   ‘I’ll miss you always, my Daddy, but you, like Mama, will live with me, in my heart; in my memories, forever!’

   Connie Gutierrez-Jenkins, tu unica hija.

   My oldest brother, Raymond, and I had the privilege of spending the very last days with my Daddy as he slowly slipped away. Sitting at his bedside, holding his hand, it wasn’t long before a rush of memories filled my head. I smiled as I sat looking at my Father’s hand in mine because I remembered that it was always his hands that held my attention. They were so strong, and seemingly magical, because of all the things that he made and did with them. If they weren’t holding a flash light at night time as he made his rounds through dark rooms, checking the locks on the doors and windows to make sure the house was safe before he went to sleep, they were holding a hammer and pounding down nails into 2 x 4's to build a hoist with chains and pulleys to raise... READ MORE →

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   Posted by Connie Gutierrez-Jenkins from Glendora, CA - Daughter on
   January 27, 2013

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2. As a kid, I will always remember Pop's blue station wagon with no two tires every matching. I think I found the right type of station wagon photo on Google. I remember how HUGE that thing was and how powerful that engine was. I recall Pop always running that engine into passing gear, upset at the "pinche" drivers in front of him not driving the way he wanted them. LOL. I also remember him installing that horn button under the dash board and pressing that button A LOT of times. That was Pop for you.

   I was always fascinated when he was working on the cars on the side of his house behind that rickety brown-painted swinging driveway gate. My parents would always drop off their car for Pop to fix the points, tune it up, check a noise that the engine was making, etc. They would sit and chat with Grandma for awhile (Grandma was always saying some sort of joke in Spanish, laughing to the hilt as my parents laughed alongside her too). I wouldn't understand them talking Spanish, so I was looking around for something to entertain me; then I would hear it...music to my ears...it was the sound of Pop rolling his huge car jack on its metal wheels rolling over the rough pavement. It would make the LOUDGEST grinding/rolling noise, but I loved the sound. I would jump up and plead to see Pop working on the cars, they would give me permission, I would rush outside and ask Pop a thousand questions about what he was doing, what's this, what's that, what happened to the car, etc. He was an impatient man, but he was VERY patient with me, briefly explaining this and that in his broken English about how to fix this and that on the car.

   To this day, because of Pop, I LOVE working on cars. I will always attribute my love of working on cars because of my wonderful Pop. Those mechanic hands of his, no matter how much Gojo or Lava soap he used, his hands were always grimy and had that intoxicating scent - to a young fan of his - of oil because he just finished working on a car.

   As a child, I took in all the details of him, from his stubby thumbs, to his constant wearing of those faded, dark blue Dickie-style pants and those slip on black cloth material shoes that were black and had tan rubber soles. When I would kiss him, he always had hard stubble on his face and made me wince. He would always be listening to Los Doyers on his transistor radio, and always doing that small spit every few minutes, but nothing ever came out.

   At the end of the evening, Pop was sitting there having his pan dulce and coffee in his usual porcelain cups.

   Lastly, I recall when we would visit, Pop and Grandma looking at El Chaupulin Colorado on TV or A La Cama con Porcel, or some sort of novela. Pop would be very much into the program on TV more than us visiting them. So what would my dad do? He would always turn off the TV. Boy, oh, boy...Pop would get so mad and say "FRANK" and then say something in Spanish about my father turning off the show they were watching. GOOD TIMES!

   I love Pop so VERY much. The beauty of it all, is that he's in heaven now. Even though I may not see him ever again down here on Earth, I WILL see him and hang out with him for an eternity up in heaven. THAT...is the best part of it all.

   I thank my Lord and Savior for letting me have 38 years of knowing and loving my grandfather. I am glad that he was my grandfather; I would not have chosen another if I was ever given the option.

   As a kid, I will always remember Pop's blue station wagon with no two tires every matching. I think I found the right type of station wagon photo on Google. I remember how HUGE that thing was and how powerful that engine was. I recall Pop always running that engine into passing gear, upset at the "pinche" drivers in front of him not driving the way he wanted them. LOL. I also remember him installing that horn button under the dash board and pressing that button A LOT of times. That was Pop for you.

   I was always fascinated when he was working on the cars on the side of his house behind that rickety brown-painted swinging driveway gate. My parents would always drop off their car for Pop to fix the points, tune it up, check a noise that the engine was making, etc. They would sit and chat... READ MORE →

   Posted by Chris Gutierrez from Pasadena, CA - Grandson on
   January 25, 2013

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3. As a kid, I will always remember Pop's blue station wagon with no two tires every matching. I think I found the right type of station wagon photo on Google. I remember how HUGE that thing was and how powerful that engine was. I recall Pop always running that engine into passing gear, upset at the "pinche" drivers in front of him not driving the way he wanted them. LOL. I also remember him installing that horn button under the dash board and pressing that button A LOT of times. That was Pop for you.

   I was always fascinated when he was working on the cars on the side of his house behind that rickety brown-painted swinging driveway gate. My parents would always drop off their car for Pop to fix the points, tune it up, check a noise that the engine was making, etc. They would sit and chat with Grandma for awhile (Grandma was always saying some sort of joke in Spanish, laughing to the hilt as my parents laughed alongside her too). I wouldn't understand them talking Spanish, so I was looking around for something to entertain me; then I would hear it...music to my ears...it was the sound of Pop rolling his huge car jack on its metal wheels rolling over the rough pavement. It would make the LOUDGEST grinding/rolling noise, but I loved the sound. I would jump up and plead to see Pop working on the cars, they would give me permission, I would rush outside and ask Pop a thousand questions about what he was doing, what's this, what's that, what happened to the car, etc. He was an impatient man, but he was VERY patient with me, briefly explaining this and that in his broken English about how to fix this and that on the car.

   To this day, because of Pop, I LOVE working on cars. I will always attribute my love of working on cars because of my wonderful Pop. Those mechanic hands of his, no matter how much Gojo or Lava soap he used, his hands were always grimy and had that intoxicating scent - to a young fan of his - of oil because he just finished working on a car.

   As a child, I took in all the details of him, from his stubby thumbs, to his constant wearing of those faded, dark blue Dickie-style pants and those slip on black cloth material shoes that were black and had tan rubber soles. When I would kiss him, he always had hard stubble on his face and made me wince. He would always be listening to Los Doyers on his transistor radio, and always doing that small spit every few minutes, but nothing ever came out.

   At the end of the evening, Pop was sitting there having his pan dulce and coffee in his usual porcelain cups.

   Lastly, I recall when we would visit, Pop and Grandma looking at El Chaupulin Colorado on TV or A La Cama con Porcel, or some sort of novela. Pop would be very much into the program on TV more than us visiting them. So what would my dad do? He would always turn off the TV. Boy, oh, boy...Pop would get so mad and say "FRANK" and then say something in Spanish about my father turning off the show they were watching. GOOD TIMES!

   I love Pop so VERY much. The beauty of it all, is that he's in heaven now. Even though I may not see him ever again down here on Earth, I WILL see him and hang out with him for an eternity up in heaven. THAT...is the best part of it all.

   I thank my Lord and Savior for letting me have 38 years of knowing and loving my grandfather. I am glad that he was my grandfather; I would not have chosen another if I was ever given the option.

   BIBLE VERSES that reminds me of Pop during this time:

   I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)

   His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant!' (Matthew 25:21)

   The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23)

   As a kid, I will always remember Pop's blue station wagon with no two tires every matching. I think I found the right type of station wagon photo on Google. I remember how HUGE that thing was and how powerful that engine was. I recall Pop always running that engine into passing gear, upset at the "pinche" drivers in front of him not driving the way he wanted them. LOL. I also remember him installing that horn button under the dash board and pressing that button A LOT of times. That was Pop for you.

   I was always fascinated when he was working on the cars on the side of his house behind that rickety brown-painted swinging driveway gate. My parents would always drop off their car for Pop to fix the points, tune it up, check a noise that the engine was making, etc. They would sit and chat... READ MORE →

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   Posted by Christopher William Gutierrez from Pasadena, CA - Grandson on
   January 25, 2013

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4. I grew up in the neighborhood where Mr Gutierrez resided (I did not his name was Ramon- We called him Mr Gutierrez).I was/am friends with his sons. This was a man of few words but led by example. He was a hard working man,that cared for his large family that we looked up to. He is one of very few men in our neighborhood who we could look up to,admire and probably later in life emulate.

   I would see photos on Facebook that were posted by his son Carlos. I remember asking Carlos to say "hello" to him for me and Carlos told me that he remembered me. That meant alot because I remembered him and what he represented to those of us who did not have their fathers in the household.

   GOD bless Mr Gutierrez and I know he is resting in peace in Heaven with Our LORD JESUS CHRIST.

   I grew up in the neighborhood where Mr Gutierrez resided (I did not his name was Ramon- We called him Mr Gutierrez).I was/am friends with his sons. This was a man of few words but led by example. He was a hard working man,that cared for his large family that we looked up to. He is one of very few men in our neighborhood who we could look up to,admire and probably later in life emulate.

   I would see photos on Facebook that were posted by his son Carlos. I remember asking Carlos to say "hello" to him for me and Carlos told me that he remembered me. That meant alot because I remembered him and what he represented to those of us who did not have their fathers in the household.

   GOD bless Mr Gutierrez and I know he is resting in peace in Heaven with Our LORD JESUS... READ MORE →

   Posted by Ron Terrazas from Acton, CA - Friend ( neighborhood kid) on
   January 24, 2013

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