Reyes Rene Gonzalez

Reyes Rene Gonzalez, born August 16, 1961, in Acatlan de Juarez, Jalisco Mexico, emigrated with his mother and siblings to Encinitas, CA in early 1968 to join his father who worked for “Pop” Wiegand. Reyes spent his formative years living on the Wiegand ranch. He fondly remembered hunting and exploring the sparsely populated El Camino Real corridor with his siblings. He was so excited when the first housing developments went in nearby and he made a friend within walking distance. Reyes found his first true passion, surfing, when he was a young teenager. Some friends gave him a cast-off board to use. He showed up on day one in his cut-off jeans and no formal swimming lessons, and never turned back.

Reyes was fiercely competitive in everything he did, including his early years surfing. For a brief time in the early 1980s, he competed professionally as a surfer. But his drive to own a home and build a solid foundation for himself and his future family caused Reyes to pivot away and start a career as a painter. Over time, surfing became less competitive and more pure joy. It was Reyes’ meditation and salve for the soul. He would often say that even if it was completely flat, just paddling around was the re-set he needed.

Reyes got his contractor’s license in the late 1980s and built a successful business that continued for decades. He was closing in on retirement but found it difficult to say good-bye to the relationships he built and his identity as a worker and a provider for his family.

His wife and three boys knew him to be a fiercely loyal man who always put their needs ahead of his own. He was a worrier and wanted to be sure his sons could navigate the world independently yet always know they had a place to go if they were in need. He was so proud of his boys and regularly let them know. Reyes quietly and steadily built a life filled with love, devotion, joy, laughter and connection with his family and friends.

As a 56-year resident of Encinitas and someone who never forgot a face, Reyes knew a lot of people in his hometown. He never went anywhere without stopping to say hello to one or more friends or acquaintances he met along the way. Reyes cared deeply about his friends and community and was keenly interested in the path each of them took in life. He was a seeker and greeted those he knew with a smile and a laugh that lit up the room. Friends and acquaintances will tell you that Reyes found joy in lifting their spirits and giving them props.

Particularly notable in recent years was how Reyes was filled with so much gratitude. Gratitude for his amazing children who he deeply admired, for his wife who he fiercely loved and supported and for the life they built together, for his friends, colleagues, and family, for his health, and for the beautiful town of Encinitas he called home for most of his life. Anyone who spent time with Reyes was touched by his spirit and his infectious love of life.

Reyes will be deeply missed by those he left behind. He is survived by his wife, whom he met in 1984, Shannon Gonzalez, his three beautiful sons, Nikolai, Jacob and Gabriel, his siblings Ricardo, Rosalba, Raul, Rogelio, and Roberto, sisters and brothers-in law, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews and cousins in both California and Jalisco, Mexico.

Reyes left us much too soon, on August 22, 2024. Words on a page will never capture the essence of Reyes who had such depth of character and vitality of soul.