Rodrigo Guerra

Rodrigo Guerra also known as “Rigo” or “Baby” passed away on December 24th 2020 due to complications following his monthlong battle with COVID-19 at the young age of 33. Rigo was a Purple Heart recipient and a proud Marine veteran who served in the Operation Enduring Freedom Iraq War. He was a loving son, brother, husband, father and friend.

Rigo was born on June 17th, 1987 in the City of Orange to parents, Imelda Morales and Rodrigo Guerra. After the separation of his parents, he was co-raised by his maternal grandparents, Juan and Elena Morales, as well as, his aunt Guadalupe Salas. Growing up, Rigo loved riding his bike, he enjoyed going to church and playing outside all day with his friends but whenever you heard “Baby” really loud, you knew he was in trouble for breaking something. He lived in a household with lots of family, lots of noise but with so much love. The rule was you came in when it started to get dark and as Rigo and his sister Monica would head in, they had nothing but big smiles and dirty faces. One of his best memories growing up was listening to his Tia Lupe’s “cuentos” that she would so happily tell whenever he asked. Rigo and his sister Monica were best friends from day one, always playing together, always there for each other and always told each other how much they loved one another. Rigo was Monica’s younger but bigger brother, who always took care of his sister.

After the tragedy of September 11, 2001 and wanting to follow in his uncle’s (Johnny Morales) footsteps, he elected to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton where he completed boot camp as a squad leader, attended the School of Infantry and completed a Machine Gunner Course. He was a proud 0331 Machine Gunner with Bravo Company 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. He was known for his amazing strength and always willing to give his brothers that military hair cut. He deployed to Iraq in March 2007 and on 8/31/2007, while on a foot patrol he was injured by a IED. Due to the quick actions of his military brothers, he survived his first encounter with death. With extensive physical therapy and through hard work and perseverance, he eventually regained the ability to walk again. Even though his dream was to become a drill instructor, he was medically discharged in 2010.

Just prior to being deployed, he met and fell madly in love with, Laura Gonzalez. During their 8 years of dating, Laura was a constant support to his recovery. He also gave her the moral support needed while she obtained her bachelor’s degree. In 2010, they jointly decided to adopt their fur baby (Gunny “The Grunt” Guerra) and on Christmas Eve 2012, surrounded by family, Rigo proposed to Laura. They married on July 26th, 2014 in San Clemente (with Gunny as the ring bearer) and settled down in Riverside, CA where they purchased their home on November 1, 2015.

In February 2014, he started work at Scott Engineering, Inc. where he started in the shipping and receiving department. With his continued hard work and various promotions, he made his way to Director of Manufacturing in 2020. Due to his continued desire to be in leadership, in 2018, he started school at California Baptist University to obtain his Bachelors in Organizational Leadership, while still working full time.

Rigo was known for his large stature and his larger-than-life personality. He was known for his big entrance when getting to his grandparent’s house. He was a lover of music, oldies, mariachis, jazz, Vicente Fernandez, Pedro Infante and recently some country music too. One of his hobbies included being a DJ for family and friends parties. His playlists always knew how to set the mood during a family get together. He was a fan of all sports and would regularly be caught watching a Lakers, Dodgers or Raiders game. Rigo enjoyed working on his house, having the best grass on the block and fixing things on his own. Rigo and Laura were avid travelers and had many traveling adventures. Destination locations included to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cancun and lastly Thailand. Rigo was always known for his generosity with friends, family and fellow Marine Corps Brothers. He was known for going out of his way to make a stranger feel welcomed. He always considered his family to be the most important part of his life. Even though he was the younger brother, he was known for being a protective brother to his sister Monica. He was an avid reader of self-help and leadership books and knew how to encourage friends to continue with their goals. During the birth of his daughter, he was known as the loudest cheerleader throughout the nursing staff in the labor and delivery ward. He always considered his daughter, born two days prior to Christmas in 2019, the best Christmas gift he could had ever had and he was looking forward to teaching her all that he knew. Christmas was Rigo’s favorite holiday and he would constantly shower Laura and the rest of his family with presents during special occasions. He would show his love for the women in his life with gifts of flowers on every Mother’s day and birthday. He loved treasuring the quiet and simple moments in life and savored sitting in his front yard of his house drinking coffee next to his wife. He had many plans left unfinished prior to his second contact with death.

Rigo is survived by his wife and daughter, Laura and Emilia Guerra, as well as his mother Imelda Morales, his grandparents Juan and Elena Morales, his sister Monica Guerra, his half siblings Janet, Armando, Daniel, David and his dog Gunny.

The family requests that flowers be sent to Cosecha Compañerismo Cristiano at 8880 Magnolia Ave. Riverside, CA 92503. There will be a funeral service held at on Tuesday January 19th 2021 at 10am.