Fernando Padilla

Welcome family and friends, we are here today for Fernando. Fernando was a loving father and husband. He will always be remembered by his contagious laughter. His laugh was so memorable and people around him found it hard not to laugh with him. He was always able to find solutions to every problem and was never afraid of anything. In his life, he remained humble and never forgot his roots.

He was born in a low-income immigrant family and started at a local community college by supporting himself mowing its lawns. Professors would tell him to quit College because he was inadequate, but he didn't quit. The College succeeded in kicking him out of school twice, and even that didn't stop him from continuing. He went back to school and eventually transferred to the University of San Francisco where he received a B.S in Information Systems. He fell in love with San Francisco, making it his home for 20 years. His favorite activity was to ride his bike on the streets, and those San Francisco steep slopes didn't stop him, he didn't walk them either. He pushed through on slopes until they became easy. He never gave up and didn’t take no for an answer. His hard work was reflected in his career, moving up the ranks of companies and mastering Information Security.

One day he went to Leon, Guanajuato and met his future wife. Later Fernando and Xochilt married in Leon, and enjoyed living in San Francisco for another year before their first daughter, Ceci, was born. They moved back to San Diego and had their next daughter, Milla. Then came the third and last daughter, Arlette. Their family was full of love and happiness. Then Fernando wanted more love and got a total of five female dogs that just loved him. He was officially a girl dad.

Aside from his career, he always put his family first. He was so dedicated to his family and his daughter’s education, sports, such as swimming, water polo, soccer, cross country, and cheer. He never missed a match or school event and always showed up with his camera. He loved getting his daughter’s involved in boxcar racing and even made two of them from scratch. The whole family, aunts, uncles, and cousins would go multiple times of the year to the desert to ride ATVs and motor cars all day. Their first family car was a 1997 Jeep Wrangler. It was the car he and Xochilt used to teach their daughters how to drive. This set the trajectory of his love for off-roading. He shared his knowledge of mechanics to his daughters and they shared his same love for cars and off-roading.

When his daughters were getting their driver’s licenses, Fernando named his favorite car “Fury.” He took it everywhere and anywhere he could, through the mountains, deserts, any type of off-roading that required courage and skill. There were so many family trips he took the family to, and he always loved including friends to enjoy the adventure.

Fernando picked up a camera when he was 14 years old and was never able to put it away. Photography became his passion and continued to be for 46 years. Throughout his life he took millions of pictures of landscape, candid street pictures, nature, architecture, family, and friends.He documented his travels with beautiful photography. His daughters will look back at the pictures and cherish the memories he gave them. His life was his daughters and he loved them so much. Xochilt, Ceci, Milla, Arlette, family, and friends will never forget Fernando and will keep him in their hearts and memories. He is here with us and he will continue to guide and protect his daughters.