Enrique Lopez

Who was Enrique Lopez. Many people may be asking this question at this very moment and may be wondering why should we remember him. What did he do with his life and why. The answer to why may be the most important part in understanding the forces that drove and guided him in life and ultimately the lives of his children and family.

Enrique was born on Sunday June 1st, 1919. His parents were Alfonso Lopez and Maria Briseno. He was baptized in Parroquia de San Sebastian in Mexico City. His father was a truck driver and moved from one place to another and had many wives. His mother came from a poor family but they rented a place in a vecindad (Housing complex) in the heart of the city. It was a very hard life and Enrique being the 2nd oldest had to help support his brothers and sister. There were 7 in all. Fernando, Enrique, Ricardo, Ignacio, Francisco, Sofia and Luis. He made money by offering his services in La Merced. Where he was almost killed in an accident. Later by the time he was 12 he was sold to the son of the owner of the property where the family lived for the cost of the space rent. He ran away and came home to his mom hungry and scared from what he had observed. By the time he was about 14 his mom was given a house in Tlalpan and they began a new life. He had some chickens and cows and shared daydreams with a shepherd boy thinking he was a very rich young man. He had his animals, a girl that liked him and two years of schooling. His dreams ended when a train tried to run over one of the cows and he saw how scared the shepherd became and when his mother kicked him out of the house for almost killing a chicken and he went hungry all day trying to get something to eat. He saw that in order to get money for food he needed a job for which he needed a school education and at that moment decided to start a new life.

He went to the airport and asked for work helping in the shop where aircraft repairs were made in exchange he asked for a place to sleep and the opportunity to learn about how things were done. He knew a little about carpentry work from his uncle Joaquin. He was asked for his school certificate and he promised to show it to them in a week. Within a short time he showed them not only that certificate but his High School degree also.

While doing his work at the airport he started working on his first life project. The construction of his own airplane in his mom’s house in Tlalpan. This plane was began inside the living room until it became too big and a wall of the house was torn down to move the body outside and to install the wings on it. He was 19 years old.

While working on his job he learned how to fly and helped in servicing airplanes, deliver merchandise and passengers to Acapulco and other points in Mexico. He was the youngest aviator Mexico had seen until now. He enjoyed talking about the many things he did while flying such as scaring the animals in the fields and the sights and girls they saw. One of those girls he met in Coyoacan was later to become his wife. Her name was Maria Elena Herrera Gil. They were married on April 1, 1942. He was 22 and she was 17.

He continued his schooling by going to school in Coyoacan where he met the owner a man called Viniegras. He was the man who taught him that life is hard and not to trust people by stealing his plane legally.

As he was working for the airlines WWII was raging and he was asked to go to Tapachula at the border between Mexico and Guatemala as station chief there. There he and mother lived out a beautiful life between the tropical forest and his obligations to work. He was tough but fair to those he led. There they had a daughter Virginia who died at birth.

He returned to Mexico City and they bought a lot in Col Gomez Farias where he constructed their first house. It was a Happy time for them and they had 7 children there. He tried many different jobs and finally one day mom told him to go back to work on airplanes. He got a job working for the UN as a mechanic instructor. In 1950 while working there one of the mechanics asked him to accompany him to take a test. He agreed and went to the American Embassy with his friend and was asked to take the test too. This was the turning point of his life. He won a scholarship to study with the FAA in Washington and then to Kansas. He got his 3 degrees in aviation and went home to Mexico. On another occasion he came to LA and went to AA to ask about work there. He showed them his little FAA card without really knowing what it implied and was asked to go to work immediately. He said no and returned to Mexico to his job there. Later he told his boss and after being told not to go proceeded to go to AA where he migrated to LA.

He took his family there and life in America began.

He came to California in 1956 without knowing anybody and bought a house in Redondo Beach later he moved to Chula Vista and Detroit. This was a rough time for the airline industry and he was laid off. In 1961 he bought a piece of land in Tecate and began work on the house of his future.

In 1963 he went back to LA to work for a new airline Western Airlines where he was asked to become a supervisor and he refused stating he wanted to work where he felt comfortable and continued working until 1981 When he became too ill to work due to his exposure to asbestos which was used for insulation on aircraft at the time. While at work he was known as a very capable mechanic and enjoyed working on very difficult assignments.

He had some friends at work but most of the time he used to spend his rest periods with a book or studying for his psychology or business classes. Later on in life he used to research medical subjects.

After his stay in Tapachula he used to work on private planes and was able to meet with Miguel Aleman a Mexican president, a Jew by the name of Mustafa and somebody that showed him that his whole family was together and lived in a large space and helped each other even though they had different professions. These encounters would later on in life become part of his own family goals and form a large part of his memoirs.

What was Enrique like in life?

Enrique was a very intelligent man who was brought up in very challenging conditions, he learned early in life that life can be rough as demonstrated when he was not allowed to get into the classroom because he had no shoes on. His father did not provide anything but a child every time he came by. He lived as a farm hand taking care of animals, his mother and father were strict and he had certain rules and obligations to fulfill daily or he would go hungry that day .

He had no real education when he was a teen, he learned quickly, and he learned how to use education to further his life goals.

He was ambitious, very orderly and wanted to better himself and his family

He set very lofty goals and pushed himself and his family to achieve them

He insisted that all his children always remain united and work as a family

He was so overbearing that he pushed people away from him

He was dedicated to his wife whom he loved dearly.

He was an excellent businessman, lucky and knew how to take advantage of opportunity

Enrique was an entrepreneur and always had a project he was working on, he got great pleasure out of being busy whether it meant rebuilding an engine, digging a well, building a house or researching a school project.

We see many of those achievements today in Tecate where he built a beautiful house and some other buildings.

In short what can we say about Enrique

He loved nature and had a very deep appreciation for the new life he was given when he was diagnosed with asbestosis and told he would die in a short time.

He was a simple man and not ostentatious, he loved simple clothes.

He loved his family and wanted them to always better themselves, he was a provider, very strict and very frugal with his money.

He was a religious man who believed in God and the Virgin of Guadalupe.

His goal in life was to set an example of how to make use of our time in this world, how to have a happy family

He was greatly loved by his wife Maria Elena who catered after his every wish