Monday, August 4, 2025

Papi's BD Memorial 2025

 

CURRICULUM VITAE

Francisco Javier Gonzalez Murguia

August 4th, 1926 – August 25th, 2011 

Born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico in 1926, Javier was one of a family of 8 children.  He always showed an interest in aviation, and at age 18 joined the Mexican Air Force.  After completing his service, he enrolled in the University of Guadalajara, where he studied and graduated with his degree in Civil Engineering.


Javier's Engineering Class

My father built his first home in the “Country” neighborhood of Guadalajara in an area now know as Providencia, then a distant, growing suburb of the city, which has now become part of the thriving metropolis of Zapopan.

Providencia house, on Ave. Americas

Around this time he met my mother, Rebecca Nava Cortez, and the two courted for several years before marrying and then emigrating to the United States.  The newlyweds arrived in Los Angeles, CA. and with the help of Javier’s older brother Antonio, they set up house and lived in the same Silverlake neighborhood for over 55 years.

Javier not only had to learn a new language (English) but also had to pass the California State Exam for Civil Engineering.  He took classes in English and then studied and successfully passed the state exam, earning him his title of California Registered Civil Engineer.

At about this time Rebecca and Javier decided to start their family.  First arrived Martha Cecilia Gonzalez, followed by Sandra Esther Gonzalez, Francisco Javier Gonzalez Jr., Jorge Ernesto Gonzalez, Luz Alicia Gonzalez and lastly Miguel Angel Gonzalez.

Sandra, Frank, Ceci, George and Mom

Michael (with his G.I. Joe) and Alice

For the next several decades Javier worked diligently to provide for his family, which never went without.  Aside from a strong network of friends and family, the Gonzalez family regularly took in drive-in movies at the Floral Drive-In Theatre, frequent visits to McArthur and Griffith parks and The Huntington Botanical Gardens, as well as annual road trips to Guadalajara.  All of these experiences provided great entertainment and educational opportunities for the family.  They helped mold the accepting and giving character of the Gonzalez family. 

Strolling thru McArthur Park

Javier retired in 2001, and spent more time around the house where he diligently helped Rebecca in her garden.  He occasionally complained about the garden work, which kept him physically active and grounded.  He took on the occasional engineering side job, which also helped him stay mentally alert.  He also worked with his sons George and Frank, providing a mentoring and supervisory hand, along with his Registered Civil Engineer (RCE) stamp.

Dad at L.A. River

Javier was diagnosed with late stage colon cancer in September of 2010 and passed away at his daughter Alice’s home in August of 2011.

He will be greatly missed and there will be a vast void in the universe due to his absence.  He was loved and diligently cared for by his family until the end.

We’ll Miss You Papi.


HASTA LUEGO

por

Corina Perez


Javier….

Gracias por tus sonrisas…tu sabiduria…..tu andar despacio por la vida. 

Vivir con dignidad hace el hombre…un gran hombre fue tu ser. 

Esos ojos transparentes….el reflejo de tu alma…..los voy a extrañar. 

En cualquier lugar que estés, estas mejor que cualquiera de nosotros,

que aun adamaos tropezando queriendo aprender

lo que con tanta gracia hiciste…vivir.


Un “hasta luego”…un “te alcanzare”….un abrazo profundo donde quiera

que estés!

Te ama,

Corina

 

UNTIL NEXT TIME

by

Corina Perez


Javier….

Thank you for your smiles….your wisdom….your walking slowly through life.

Living with dignity makes the man….and a great man

shown through your existence.


Those transparent eyes……mirrors of your soul……I will miss them.

In whatever place you be…you are better there, than we are here

constantly stumbling through our search to learn

what you did with such grace….live.


A great “Hasta Luego”….an “I’ll Catch Up With You Soon”…

a great last hug…wherever you may be!

I love you,

Corina




I am standing upon the seashore.  A ship at my side spreads her white sails

to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength.

I stand and watch her until at length

she hangs like a speck of white cloud

just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.


Then someone at my side says:  “There, she is gone!

“Gone Where? 

Gone from my sight.  That is all.

 

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was

when she left my side and she is just as able to bear the load of

living freight to her destined port.

 

Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says”

“There she is gone!”  There are other eyes

watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up

the glad shout:  “Here she come!”

 

And that is dying.


-  Henry Van Dyke

Saturday, November 2, 2024

+++++++ Dia De Los Muertos 2024 - Lakeside - Chapala, Jalisco Mexico +++++++++


Vivir la vida al máximo es la mejor ofrenda que le podemos dar a los muertos.

 

Living life to the fullest is the best offering we can give to the dead.


Some images from the goings-on about town this year.

Ajijic Plaza preparing the main altar in the kiosko

Pescador Catrin

Many of the entrants in this year's Catrina contest were
made of recycled materials.

Catrina Angel

Newspaper Catrina


Catrina de Maiz

Catrina Monarca

Reused Plastic Bottle Catrina

Tonight the Noche de Muerte wall will be illuminated
by candlelight.  Each skull relief will hold a lit votive
in honor of the dearly departed.


The wall is the brainchild of our own local art hero
Efren Gonzalez....Gracias Maestro!



Dancing with Death


Jim Houle's altar this year





It is said that the hummingbird was Huitzilin, who took the form of a bird to visit his beloved Xóchitl. As long as the cempasúchil flower exists and there are hummingbirds in the fields, the love of Huitzilin and Xóchitl will last forever, and cempasúchil will illuminate the journey for the spirits of the deceased.

Cempasúchil, which comes from the Nahuatl words cemposalli, meaning “twenty,” and xochitl, or “flower,” making marigolds the “flower of twenty petals,” were miraculously gifted to the Nahua by Tonatiuh, their sun god, so that they might honor their dead.


Altar Nueva Posada



Altar Ajijic Plaza


Today many shops were closed.  Families rush to gather materials
for their Noche de Muerte celebrations.  The cemetery is lined with
vendors as you enter, selling Cempasuchil flowers, wreaths for the gravesites,
candles.  Food is being prepared to take to the gatherings to celebrate
the beings who have passed.  And many memories and stories will
be told and retold.  In this way the memories of our dearly departed live on.







Sunday, September 1, 2024

Mariposario in Jocotepec Field Trip - Saturday August 31st, 2024

Our Growers Group decided to take a field trip to the Mariposario (butterfly nursery) in Jocotepec.  The Mariposario is the large black netted structure in the the background in the photo below.  The Mariposario is an independently funded project supported by BioTu.  The mission of BioTU is to facilitate the transition to a sustainable Mexico, where the current consumption of resources does not compromise the needs of future generations. Our vision is to assist citizens to become informed about the environmental challenges being confronted in order to collaborate in creating solutions in sustainability and renewable energy for their communities.


Our primary guide that day was Eva Asher (in the cool rain boots, center).  Eva is bilingual and she and her team are based lakeside and tend to and work at the Mariposario location.  The Mariposario is housed on the grounds of the local, public high school, CETAC - Centro de Estudios Tecnológicos en Aguas Continentales.

BioTu's Logo

BioTu's Sponsors

BioTu's Van

Bamboo Igloo (exterior)

The Mariposario consists of the butterfly nursery, natural materials/construction kitchen, a dry compost toilet, organic food gardens, a natural biofiltration pool, aquaponics farms and a bamboo igloo used for meetings and gatherings.


Bamboo Igloo (interior)


Bamboo Stool

Rocket Stove

The natural materials constructed kitchen is in use everyday.  It has a rocket stove, a solar dehydrator, a solar oven and natural filtration water system.

Eva shows us the solar dehydrator

and the Solar Oven

Inside the Mariposario

Inside the Mariposario, which is a walk through structure, you see the many plants that attract the various butterflies that arrive in Jocotepec.


Some of the butterflies and the foods that attract them.



The Biofiltration Pool

The Dry Compost Toilet

Eva in the lush organic gardens

All in all it was a wonderful visit and we plan on returning to see the continual development of the project.

The Growers Group Members and the Mariposario Team

A special Gracias to all the Mariposario crew:

Eva Asher, Marcos Llamas, Neftali Valdivia, Jocelyn Villa Gomez, Laura Chavez and Ignacio.

To visit the Mariposario, contact Suzette Amado, coordinator at suzette@biotu.org and schedule a visit.


Or catch them on Facebook at BioTu.


(photo courtesy of Lezlie Green)

Enjoy!