Guillermo Mercado Jr.

Guillermo “Willie” Mercado (52), a beloved Husband, Brother and Uncle; he passed peacefully on November 25th, 2013 after battling Cancer . He was born on July 11th, 1961 in Robstown, TX. He is survived by his Wife, Laura Jayne and their loving pets Ricky, Dori, Bert and Ernie ; his Brothers Juan Mercado and Elijio Mercado and his Sisters Felicita Moreno, Petra Esparza and Victoria Gonzalez and by his Sister-in-Law Dee Dee Mercado and their respective families.

The Tribute of Life Service is on Saturday, December 14th, 2013 at 2:00 PM in the Chapel. There will be a Reception afterwards with Refreshments. It is located at Forest Park Westheimer, Funeral Home & Cemetery at 12800 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 77077.

In lieu of Flowers, if you desire you can make a Donation in his name at the following:

University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210

In memory of Guillermo Mercado - Head & Neck Medical Oncology Department

Willie grew up in Robstown and graduated Calallen High School in 1979. Willie was 1st chair tenor saxophone in his senior year for the Concert Jazz Band. Willie obtained a partial academic scholarship to attend Texas A&I University in Kingsville, Texas where he studied chemical engineering during the time he attended there.

In 1985, Willie migrated to Houston and started working at Wilson Fire Equipment and first started in Fire Extinguisher Portables Sales and would later progress through the many years of loyal service to become the Manager of Purchasing and Warehouse. Throughout his years at Wilson Fire, he learned all of the products along with their respective applications and end uses. He was truly a hard working and family oriented man. He was the guy that could always see the big picture and usually knew all of the elements that made that up. He was a great pleasure to be around all of the time.

Willie and I (Laura Jayne) started dating in 1986 and then in 1988 moved in together and were together ever since. People will tell you that even from the beginning years for us; we were like an old married couple and were certainly much like two peas in a pod. It was a great joy and blessing to have Willie in my life and we had so much fun and enjoyed life and visiting our families through the years. We each got to know each other’s’ families and grew to love all of the family members more and more as time passed. We shared a love of music and a love of learning from each other as we traveled through the years on our life’s journey together.

We also like to set out on adventurous vacations and explore new places together and with family too. Some of the places we visited were Las Vegas, Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Grand Coulee Dam, Cancun, Victoria British Columbia, Friday Harbor San Juan Islands and a cruise to Cozumel where we swam with the dolphins which was probably our favorite trip to date.

Willie could always make you laugh or make you calm if that is what was needed. He had so very much patience and that was truly a virtue. He also had great Faith, more than a person might know. That Faith helped him through these last few years so very much. I can say now that I am happy that he is finally at peace and is no longer in any pain from the Cancer. I miss him every minute. When I see him in my mind, he is always smiling his beautiful smile. He would want us all to go on about our lives and remember all of our fun and loving memories as often as we wish.

Below are some reflections from his and my family.

First are reflections from Victoria Gonzalez, his next oldest sister.

As I think about the memories I have of Willie, what comes to my mind is the protector that he was to me. Out of nine siblings, he was child # 7 & I was # 6.

While my older brothers would wrestle with him & I, we could not stand for the older ones to get too rough with us. If I would get pushed around by my older brothers, Willie would jump on them or pull them off. He was not going to let them do me like that.

Growing up, we always had chores to tend to. I would get a jump start in the morning and he would follow behind me to make sure that he helped out and that I was okay. You have to understand that our actions always spoke louder than words. We didn’t have to speak it, because we understood each other very well.

Willie was my little hero, defender, motivator, encourager, comforter & strong right hand. He was always the one getting the instructions from mom or dad and making sure I understood because he didn’t want me getting yelled at or into trouble with the adults.

One day we decided to go cut some fresh grass to feed the rabbits and did not realize that the big black bull we had was watching us. The bull decides to bust the chain loose and chase us. When Willie saw the bull coming, he yelled at me and we ran to the bed of the truck. Had he not been watching, I would have been trampled by the bull.

The same way that we played together and did chores together, we also got into mischievious things. Living on a farm, he and I were always finding bugs and he was so buffed in science that he could tell me all about the bugs or insects we would catch. I remember the countless snakes that we ran into and he always had a stick in his hand ready for the kill. Growing up, he got stung by a scorpion once and I was so scared thinking that he was going to have to go to the hospital. Willie was hurting, because I read his face, but never cried. Our mom took care of it with home remedies as usual.

We raced our bikes up and down the driveway, packed our little snacks & hike to the river & we walked to the store together many times, we borrowed money from each other, played little detectives, we learned to smoke together and got caught, no thanks to Eli (our younger brother). For some reason, if one of us got in trouble, we were both punished. I wonder why???

I remember the times in the summer that Dad would take us to the job sights to help build homes. Willie was very smart with the tools and he taught me how to hammer, measure, align boards, and learned the difference between all the nails we used. He demonstrated great work ethics even back then. Instead of him following in my footsteps, I was the one guided by him. These are just a few of the adventures that we shared together.

Willie showed what a big heart he had, even as a young lad, he would give his last to appease any situation.

Willie was my Robin & I was his Batman; he was my Jeckel & I was his Heckel;

He was my Jerry & I was his Tom; he was my Bam Bam & I was his Pebbles!!!

He was my little companion and he will always be present in my heart!

Next are reflections from Elijio Mercado, his younger brother.

As for stories and memories, there are numerous, but some that stand out include:

I remember the four brothers; Pete, Willie, Frank and myself playing doubles in tennis during the time Frank and I spent our summers in Houston. We would play over in the apartments where Vicky lived and could play from noon all the way until dark taking turns changing teams.

I remember spending time in Pete and Willie's apartment during the summers playing chess, taking turns playing against one another. Sometimes their games would last well over four hours and well into the night. They both were excellent chess players and competed against each other tough.

I remember Willie teaching me how to play guitar. He would teach me the same way Pete taught him and this helped me later on after I started to sing and join the choir. I used to love to sit and listen he and Pete play guitar together while I either listened or sang along with them if I knew the song(s). We could spend the entire day doing this if we had the time on weekends.

I remember the time Willie got chased by the big bull we used to have on the farm and had to jump over the barb wire fence to get away. He carried the small scar from the barb wire on his chest well into adulthood.

I fondly remember being in the truck with him driving to his college and listening to Jimmy Buffet, Billy Joel and the Eagles on his 8-track. To this day, my favorite Jimmy Buffet album is Coconut Telegraph because that was the first Buffet album I had ever heard and those songs always bring back fond memories of our rides together.

When our dad used to have his construction company and we had to work on homes together, anytime he would leave us alone to check on another job site, he and I would get up in the rafters and have nail fights, flicking nails at each other while crawling through the rafters and trying to evading each other's throws. We would do this until our Mom stopped us and made us get back to work before Dad got back.

Well, these are some of the ones that standout. My fondest memories are the ones of he and I talking with each other every Sunday for the last several years. I looked forward to speaking with him about football, our respective cats and our jobs.

Next are reflections from Laura’s Mom, Lois Ward.

Willie came into our lives many years ago and readily became a son to us. We always had a great time visiting with him and looked forward to his and Laura Jayne’s trips to the northwest. I think he liked the beautiful scenery in this area and we tried to show him some of it each time he came. Once he and Laura Jayne came to Tacoma where we were living at that time and we wanted to see so many things…..well being Tacoma, it rained almost every day they were there….we did get to ride one of the big ferries to Seattle and see a few sights and we played a lot of Trivia but we had a great time. Willie became a favorite of ‘The Grandpaws’ which is what Willie came to lovingly call my parents. Mom, Dad and Willie had a mutual admiration for each other through the years. He and Laura Jayne came when ‘Pop’ was dying and the same when ‘Gran’ was terminally ill. I know that both Pop and Gran loved him dearly and were glad as were we that he was in Laura Jayne’s life and ours too and that he came to say his goodbyes to them.

He had a wonderful work ethic and was a very patriotic person. We used to have a few political discussions and found that we were pretty much in agreement on items. He really kept up on current events so was knowledgeable and fun to talk to.

We loved him most of all for his devotion and love for Laura Jayne. As a mother, I always hoped for her to have someone to love dearly and to be loved in return……Willie was that someone and became a very special someone to us all.

He is missed more than we have words to say. He is at peace and without pain and for that, we are very grateful. Thank you Willie for coming into our lives and being such a vital part of our family. We’ll always love you…..Lois and Jim Ward.

Please feel free to add comments here at the website in honor of Willie.