George Alfred Gutierrez

George was an artist at living. If this description of George sounds unusual it is because it is my attempt at translating into English a Hungarian phrase, élet művész, I learned from my parents that describes perfectly George’s character and his lifestyle. The phrase applies to someone who is personable, good humored, clever, and loving, while at the same time is unconventional, a little eccentric, and sometimes acts as a free spirit. It is someone who negotiates the highs and lows of life with flair. That was George!

But, let’s start with the beginnings of George’s life. George was the first-born son of Alfredo and Anita Gutierrez. George grew up with his sister Diana, and brothers Javier and Octavio, in a neighborhood in East Los Angeles. George started elementary school there. Subsequently, the Gutierrez family moved to Pico Rivera, into a house not too far from St. Hilary Church.

It was around the time George was attending junior high in Pico Rivera that an emotionally wrenching event happened to George and his siblings. Their mother Anita passed away unexpectedly. George’s feelings of hurt from losing his mother at a young age seemed to remain unresolved in his heart throughout his life. It wasn’t uncommon to hear him philosophize about his mother’s passing well into his adult years. After Anita passed away, Anita’s sister Mercedes, or Mercy as most us know her, stepped in and took the young Gutierrez siblings under her wing, and treated them to numerous outings and trips, near and far.

After several years had gone by, the Gutierrez siblings welcomed a stepmother when Alfredo married Alejandra. Alejandra brought to the family a six-year old daughter, Julie. The Gutierrez family grew when Alfredo and Alejandra had two sons, Benjamin and Anthony.

After graduation from El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, George went to work for Sinclair Paints, and thereafter for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Later he worked at various times for a security service company, and for a grocery warehouse. He also served as a forest firefighter and as a water treatment plant technician when he was a guest, so to speak, of the State of California.

In his 20’s, George fell in love with a lady named Corinne. They married, but sadly the marriage didn’t last for reasons that will become clear as I continue.

It is no secret that George had a drinking and drug addiction problem. It is difficult for someone, who does not have such a problem, to understand what physical and/or mental urges could possibly drive a person to fall into such a condition. George seemed to be subject to such urges off and on during his lifetime. He went through detoxification programs at various times, and he attended intermittently some AA meetings, but the urges never seemed to go away completely, and George experienced relapses.

I got to know George after I started dating and later married George’s sister, my lovely wife Diana. In 2003, the father of the Gutierrez family, Alfredo, passed away. George had been living with his father Alfredo in Alfredo’s home, and Alfredo’s passing left George somewhat without roots. After Alfredo’s passing, George lived in various places in or in the vicinity of Pico Rivera, and never too far from our home in Whittier. In fact there were some rare occasions when George stayed with us in our home. At such times, George sometimes attended Mass with us here at St. Hilary. It was because of these close geographical circumstances that Diana became involved with helping George whenever, as the saying goes, George fell off the wagon. For moral support, and for obtaining guidance in her efforts to help George, Diana joined and became active in the Al-Anon fellowship movement.

Naturally, I too became involved in helping George when he was down. I recall a couple occasions when George was down and he was approached by law enforcement personnel and paramedics. He greeted them with: “Semper Fi,” the U.S. Marine Corps’ motto. He gained instant respect from the uniformed personnel! Of course, George wasn’t a veteran at all, but his action shows how clever George was in gaining sympathy!

A common outcome of George’s downfalls was that he lost cell phones, reading glasses, some wallets, and our reaction when we learned of these was: Oh, not again! One time though he discovered he had lost irreversibly his hearing in one ear. In spite of such setbacks, George remained very conscious about his physical appearance. He had a favorite Pico Rivera barber, and he always maintained a stylish haircut. A palm brush was always handy in his pocket. Perhaps out of vanity, he sometimes colored his mustache black. He liked to wear stylish clothing, and he had a weakness for Dickey overalls. He was an avid reader of paperback fiction. He owned a large collection of 33 1/3 vinyl records of popular music from the 70’s and 80’s. Although he had owned several cars, in his later years he was carless, and he became an expert at taking public transportation. George always had with him a stack of Metro bus schedules. George had an amazing memory for recalling personal and family events with their locations and exact dates. George had a weakness for Hostess and Little Debbie chocolate cupcakes. He liked Maruchan Instant Lunch noodles in a cup with shrimp, and his favorite seasoning was lemon-pepper.

George was a loving son, brother, brother-in-law, nephew, uncle, great-uncle, and friend to us. Although he needed help sometimes, he himself was very generous and helpful to others. His untimely passing has left us with broken hearts, but with time our broken hearts will heal as we recall in conversations the many fond memories we have of George.

May the peace of the Lord be with you George!