Jesus Carrillo

Jesus “Jess” Carrillo, 87, of Crows Landing, California died early Wednesday morning, September 3, 2014 at Community Hospice, Hughson, California from chronic complications related to Type II diabetes. He died peacefully in his sleep while being lovingly attended to by his loving family.

Jesus was born on April 18, 1927, seven years after the end of the Mexican Revolution, to widower Pedro Carrillo and his second wife Juana Ruelas in Los Cruces, Durango, at an isolated rural farming hacienda north of Matamoros in central Mexico. That same year the carving of 4 presidential likenesses into Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, USA would begin. This national monument would factor prominently in Jesus’ life 77 years later in 2004 when Jesus and his eldest son Andrew would make a memorable ‘road trip’ to the Black Hills of South Dakota specifically to fulfill Jesus’ lifelong dream of viewing the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in person.

Jesus was the youngest of 3 children and his father died when Jesus was but a little boy. His father’s death left him, his twin sisters Socorro and Rita, and his mother Juana impoverished and to fend for themselves. Jesus briefly attended an elementary school in Hacienda Solis where his class group photo is now archived in a local museum as part of that region’s local history. “Pedrito” could be mischievous, especially when he would shoot marbles with his slingshot from the back of the classroom, thwacking unsuspecting front-row students in the back of their heads while an unsuspecting teacher was writing on the blackboard. Jesus could not help but laugh at the memory of his stealth slingshot days.

Later as an entrepreneurial young man Jesus petitioned his older half-brother to stake him in an agricultural venture to purchase 100 acres to farm. Miguel refused, and seeing that he had no future in Mexico, Jesus immigrated north to the United States where he became a migrant farm worker following the crops from Texas to Nebraska then westward to eventually work the farms in the Central Valley of California. Jesus experienced racism during those difficult times, often having to pay a white co-worker to buy hamburgers in a nearby diner, which was closed to him. Despite many injustices Jesus came to love this new country filled with opportunities he would not have in his native Mexico.

It was in California that he met a beautiful young woman and fellow avid dancer named Louise Alice Barela. They later married in Las Vegas, Nevada and eventually settled in the rural community of Crows Landing, California to raise their family and where he worked long, hard hours tending an almond orchard south of Patterson, California. Louise remembers that during the almond harvest season her husband would often sit up in bed throughout the night struggling to catch his breath, coughing up the dust and almond husk ‘fuzz’ that filled the hot August air when almonds were literally knocked out of the trees onto canvas sheets by men wielding rubber mallets. Yet he would persist in working hard to provide the needed essentials for his growing family. Employment with the Newman-Gustine Unified School District as a custodian allowed Jesus to further provide full benefits for himself and his family.

A deep faith in Jehovah became the guiding light in his life and sustained him through the untimely deaths of his oldest daughters Martha and Ana Maria, as well as his mother Juana and older sister Socorro. Jesus remained faithful to his principles and taught these Bible principles that endeared him to many families. He once graciously accompanied and provided emotional support to a bashful young man who nervously proposed marriage to a fellow congregant. He died a loyal and faithful servant of Jehovah and served in the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses in Patterson, CA.

Jesus is survived by his wife Louise of 60 years; son Andrew and his wife Lori, daughter Eva Jacobson and her husband Jim, son David and his wife Amy, grandchildren Allison Adams, David Andrew Robert Carrillo, Alexandria Carrillo-Baker, and Sofia Carrillo. Jesus was predeceased by his daughters Ana Maria Adams and Martha Adams in 1986 and 1988, respectively.

A Memorial Service will be held for Jesus on Saturday, September 13, 2014 at 10:00AM at Lakewood Memorial Park - 900 Santa Fe Avenue, Hughson CA with inurnment to follow. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Community Hospice of Modesto. The family wishes to thank all the professionals who served Jess at Memorial Hospital North, Garden City Convalescent Home, Hy-Lond Convalescent Hospital, and Community Hospice, Inc. during these emotionally-challenging months. We are grateful to the many men and women who attended to his family’s needs.

With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” -- Revelation 21:3-4

He Loved Jehovah