Thomas Guebara

Long-time Stockton resident Thomas Guebara Sr. passed away at the age of 99 on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Thomas was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Anita Jimenez Guebara , mother Ventura Conchola Carrillo, 2 sisters Jessie Pachuca and Josie Wilson Parker, and 3 brothers, Vincent Guebara, Elmer Guebara(Carmen Guebara), Tony Guebara(Nina Guebara). He is survived by his brother John Guebara, (Julia Guebara), son Thomas Guebara, Jr. (Isabel Fragoso) and their 7 children of Stockton, California, by his daughter Gloria Eaton (Mike Eaton)and their 3 children of Anchorage, Alaska, caregiver/family member Carmen Munoz and her 4 children, total of 14 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

The early chapters of Thomas's life echoed John Steinbeck's book Grapes of Wrath. Born in 1924 to hard-working Mexican immigrants, Thomas's earliest years were spent in a small house near the Kansas railyard where his father worked. When the Great Depression hit only a few years later, Thomas's father lost that job, and the family lost their home. Unemployed and homeless, they began a slow journey west. Traveling through Kansas with his siblings, a grandparent, uncles and aunts, the family settled in a migrant camp in Colorado where they worked the fields, planting, and harvesting sugar beets. Decades later, Thomas would recall his work as a small child piling sugar beets in the field, also the time he got caught chasing the farmer's goose.

Looking for a better opportunity, his father hopped a west bound freight train and found work in Northern California. He sent for his family to join him. Thomas's recollection of that journey, west over Colorado's Rocky Mountains, included times he and his siblings would have to jump out of the homemade trailer, being pulled behind their old Chevy, and help push the jalopy up some of the steeper grades.

In Northern California they found work picking fruit in the orchards, camping in tents next to a river where Thomas learned to swim. Instilled early in life with a hard work ethic, Thomas labored throughout his youth, delivering newspapers, and working a variety of odd jobs while going to school. Having missed much of his early formal education, Thomas struggled in school until a teacher in Woodland, California took the time and made an extra effort to help him learn to read. Her gift germinated his lifelong love of learning and books.

World War II started when Thomas was 17, and he wanted to join the Navy, but his mother refused to consent. So, he joined the Army as soon as he turned 18. He volunteered to become a paratrooper so he could send his mother the extra pay. Deployed to Europe, he arrived by sea in Italy and then parachuted with his fellow paratroopers into France where they began a long hard, march north. Thomas saw combat frequently and, as a bullet hole in his helmet would confirm, he nearly lost his life more than once. As the war ended, his squadron made its way to Berlin where they were assigned to guard senior command including, over one Thanksgiving holiday, General Dwight Eisenhower.

Upon returning to California after the war, Thomas returned to school where he studied accountancy and bookkeeping. Along the way he met and fell in love with beautiful Anita, and they were married in 1950. They made their home in Stockton where Thomas went to work as a bookkeeper for Minneapolis Moline, a farm equipment company. When that company was purchased by another, Thomas went to work as a bookkeeper for the County of San Joaquin in Stockton, California, where he continued to work until his retirement. Thomas and Anita spent much of their life together in the home they owned on New York Drive in Stockton. They raised their two children there and they spent their many years there working hard and living well. They were still living there when Anita passed away in 2017.

For good reason, Thomas was a proud man. He was proud of what he had accomplished in life. He loved his family, and he loved his country. Over his 99 years, from Kansas to California, he manifest the American Dream, always working hard, studying and learning, serving his country and his community, and always enjoying living free. To say the least, he will be missed by all who knew and loved him.