Maurilio Marquez

Maurilio Marquez was born August 20th, 1928 on Pomoroy Street in Los Angeles, California. He was the third of eight children of Manuel Marquez De La Torre and Pomposa Ortiz Marquez both of Zacatecas, Mexico.

He married Maria Elena Arroyo on September 19th, 1970. Their daughter Laura Elena was born the following year. In 1991 he became a widow when his wife passed away.

During the depression era in1931, Maurilio’s father decided to move the family to Mexico City. On their journey they stopped to visit family members in Jerez, Zacatecas. The family settled there until 1943. While growing up in Jerez he attended elementary school and worked on the family fields and store.

He was always the guardian of the family even at a young age, and made sure all his brothers and sisters were safe. He shared many memories of his childhood with us. The most popular story was when he protected his sister Amalia from a shoot-out in Jerez. At the age of eleven and eight the siblings were walking back from catechism class when there was a shoot out between two men. Maurilio safeguarded his sister by pushing her into a recessed doorway shielding her from the bullets as they whizzed by.

Two other stories took place in the fields surrounding Jerez. The first story was the day Maurilio and his sister were riding on a mule. A snake spooked the mule and the saddle came loose. The children spent some time hanging upside down on the underbelly of the mule until their father rescued them.

The second story is of Maurilio and his brother Juan walking back from the fields when coyotes started chasing them. They climbed a tree. Maurilio used his belt to strap Juan to the tree so that he wouldn’t fall down into the coyote’s below.

His siblings recall that he was an excellent domino player; he always seemed to win, even the beating the adults.

In 1941 the Marquez family settled in Tijuana arriving via train from El Paso Texas. Maurilio’s first job in Tijuana was working at the Caliente Racetrack where he groomed and walked the horses at age thirteen. He continued to attend elementary school eventually graduating from 6th grade, a grand accomplishment in those days. He was an excellent student when he attended school. His favorite subject was Math. When a teacher would put a math problem on the chalkboard, he was always the first with the correct answer. Once asked what he would have studied if allowed to continue his education, his response without hesitation was history.

When he was not attending school he was working to help the family. Being the oldest male son, he took his responsibilities very seriously. In his teenage years during the summers Maurilio and his sister Amalia worked in the fields of San Diego, Los Angeles and Fresno Counties. They picked celery, tomatoes, grapes, peaches, apricots, lemons, and almonds. Some of the California towns he worked in were Manteca, Yuba City, and Dorris. All of the money that he and his sister earned was given to their mother to help support the family and build the house in Colonia Independencia, Tijuana.

To earn big dollars and seeking adventure he traveled to Oregon and Alaska.

Maurilio worked for the Union Pacific Railroad in Southern Oregon. He became very familiar with the Coos Bay and Medford areas during this time. In 1952 he traveled to Seattle looking for work. He stayed only two weeks. In June 1952 he found himself in Anchorage, Alaska. He traveled to Alaska for work and adventure. The day he woke up and found the water pipes frozen he decided to leave. Alaska was not for him.

In his twenties he and Amalia moved to Los Angeles and lived with relatives. Maurilio worked in the cafeteria at The Children’s Hospital where he acquired the recipe for his famous Half Moon cookies he enjoyed making at Christmas time. Within a few months their younger brother Juan joined them. Juan attended school while Maurilio and Amalia worked at the hospital. All the money they earned went back to help support the family in Tijuana. During this time he worked other jobs as well.

When Maurilio returned to the Tijuana/ San Diego area he helped in his fathers business. During WWII he recalled making manhole covers and drainage covers. He worked for a short period of time at Mercy Hospital as a general helper. During this decade he also began working for the aerospace industry. He worked at Solar before joining General Dynamics.

He worked at General Dynamics in the Convair Division as an aircraft assembler. Maurilio worked on many projects, for Boeing and McDonald Douglas. During his tenure at General Dynamics he worked on missiles, various Boeing planes, the space shuttle, and his final project was MD11. He worked at General Dynamics a total of 42 years until his retirement on March 1st, 1994. He was known for his strong work ethic and was very dependable which led to his many awards of perfect attendance.

After retirement he traveled with family and friends to destinations such as Lake Havasu, Las Vegas, Utah, Northern California, Phoenix, and Orlando (This 1998 trip was the first time he had flown since his return trip from Anchorage Alaska in 1952.) He was a dedicated family man. He took Laura and numerous nephews and nieces to the zoo, circus, SeaWorld, Disneyland, Ice Capade shows, and lots and lots of Padres games.

Anyone that that knew Maurilio knew of his passions and hobbies. He got his green thumb from his mother. Maurilio enjoyed tending to his rose bushes and numerous fruit trees. He spent his days listening to music, watching the news, and telenovelas. The employees at IHOP and Jack In The Box on Broadway in Chula Vista knew him well. He liked to be well informed by reading the newspaper. His favorite reads were autobiographies, history, and most of all The Racing Form. He followed the Padres from Westgate Park to Petco Park. He had season tickets for several years.

Many of his early friendships surrounded the horses. He enjoyed going to the Caliente, Del Mar, Hollywood Park, and Santa Anita Race Tracks to bet his 5-10 or Pic Six. Maurilio studied the Racing Form and program to make his racing choices. He was an avid watcher of the Triple Crown races. The first Kentucky Derby Race he missed in over fifty years was just 3 weeks ago when he attended his sister’s 80th birthday party. He won and lost many races throughout the years, but he always enjoyed the thrill of the track. One year in 1982 he won the Pic Six at Santa Anita Park. As he had done for many years he first shared the winnings with his family, and then purchased a new car and did some remodeling to his home.

Being extremely healthy and hard working his entire life, he was forced to slow down. His health issues began in April of 2001 when he started kidney dialysis. He missed his first opening day at Del Mar that year. He would go to dialysis 3 times a week making friends with the dialysis technicians and other patients. In May of 2004 he had a 3-way bypass and a heart valve implant. He had a long recovery from open-heart surgery.

On Monday May 23rd 2011 he fell off the dining room chair and broke his hip as he was sitting down to a meal. On Thursday he had hip surgery. The surgeon implanted a pin in his hip. The surgery was successful, however on Friday as he was having his dialysis treatment he had breathing difficulty and an extremely low blood pressure. Doctors at Sharp in Chula Vista were unable to stabilize his blood pressure. They believe he might have had a stroke or a blood clot in his lungs. He passed away in the afternoon.

Maurilio is survived by his daughter Laura, his sisters Amalia and Maria Elena, his brother Manuel and numerous nieces and nephews. He has always been a father and grandfather figure to many of his nephews and nieces. He will always be in our hearts and memories.