Mariano Sandoval

“Give me a problem and I’ll hand you a solution.” Those who knew Mariano Sandoval would agree that that motto accurately described him. Mariano was a man of great drive and a very original, independent thinker. For Mariano, no challenge was impossible, and just about any desired result was within his grasp. Mariano placed great trust in his intuition. Since that intuition generally led him in the right direction, who was he to doubt it.

He was the son of Manuel G. Sandoval and Maria de Jesus Rodriguez. His childhood found him in Aguascalientes, Mexico barrio de extacion where he matured into the independent person he eventually became.

Mariano grew up with four siblings. He had two older brothers Manuel and Juan Sandoval and Antonio Garcia-Rodriguez and one younger sister Maria del Rosario Garcia-Rodriguez. Mariano could be seen as being stubborn by his siblings. It was important to him that he was perceived as “right” when it came to his part in those typical family spats. However, this quality did not over power his caring for his family. This ability to balance his family, with his need to be seen as right, helped him to develop into a young adult while enjoying many good times with his family.

During his grade school years, Mariano was a very focused and serious student who actually enjoyed the challenge of many classroom problems. He was determined to succeed, and he drew upon his gifts of trust and perseverance to provide him with a competitive edge. While his first love might have been academics, Mariano took part in Futbol, baseball, bike riding, boxing and billiards. Mariano delighted in projects that required planning, critical thinking and resolution. Mariano's memorable achievements included Amateur boxing in his teen years.

Mariano was loyal to his friends. He found that he was most in tune with people who had similar interests and thought about things much the way that he did. Mariano sometimes had a tendency to be critical in his friendships but he was more interested in finding out what was right in a situation rather than in being mean toward others. He never intentionally set out to hurt any of his friends. Mariano was a person who challenged others to fend for themselves and to be original in their thinking and evaluation of the outside world. While growing up, some of his best friends were compadre Cuco, Joe Chamaco, Chapulin and Cubano Medina. Later in life, he became friends with Raul and Ernesto Rivera, Carlos Diaz and Andres Rascon.

On April 4, 1970, Mariano exchanged wedding vows with Maria Norma Villa at Lady of Pillar of Santa Ana, California. Because of this, Mariano grew as a person.

Mariano often neglected his own feelings in order to give to others. This was very true when it came to how he dealt with his children. He was able to hand on to each child a number of strong values. He taught them to appreciate their abilities, gave them a desire to persevere despite obstacles and set within them a drive to succeed. He had four children, three sons, Mariano Arturo, Marco Antonio and Miguel Adrian Sandoval; one daughter Myrna Araceli Sandoval and daughter-in-law Kim Sandoval. He also had five grandchildren, Alex, Raina, Paris, Mariah and Troy. They were always aware of how much Mariano loved them.

During Mariano's professional working years, he was at his best when working independently. It became the hallmark of his performance. Mariano was generally able to refocus his drive and determination and readily work toward finding a way to get things done that was beneficial to himself and his co-workers. His primary occupation was as an Plasterer/Construction. He was employed by Southern California Plastering Union Local 200 .

For Mariano, his outside interests and hobbies became another exercise in learning and mastering areas that interested him. He greatly enjoyed unraveling the "hows" and "whys" that lay behind his hobbies. Mariano was always pushing himself to learn more and to stretch his knowledge base even further. He firmly believed that the more things that he knew the more control he would have over things. His favorite pursuits were billiards and dancing.

Watching his favorite sporting events by himself was never a problem for Mariano. It allowed him to indulge in his own individual interpretation of the event. It was not uncommon for Mariano to know what the right play or move “should have been,” and he would vocally address these feelings even if there was no one around to hear them. And if there were others around, he would still state his feelings and gladly debate anyone on their opposing views. He enjoyed following his favorite sporting events. Tops on his list were soccer, boxing, baseball, football and baseball.

Mariano placed his interest wholeheartedly behind any project he took on. The “engineer” part of his personality pushed him to find out as much information as he could, to understand the practicality in a given situation. This was something that influenced his involvement in work, pleasure and volunteer activities. Politically, Mariano was a strong supporter of the Democratic Party.

Mariano's faith allowed him to better appreciate the gifts and opinions of others. This deepening aspect of his life helped him to accept his own feelings to a greater degree. He was a member of Corpus Christi for 11 years.

Mariano's skepticism was visible when he found it necessary to place too much trust in one person. This was never clearer than when it was time for him to schedule a vacation or period of time away from his regular schedule. Mariano loved the research aspects of planning a trip, but the actual process of relaxing was far more difficult. Still, he did manage to enjoy some time away. Favorite vacations included cruises to Bahamas, Hawaii, Mexican Riviera, Mexico, family vacations, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas and Palm Springs.

When Mariano's retirement finally came in 1994, he was ready. He worked out many of the details in advance so that he could enjoy the time and not have to worry.

Mariano fought a brave battle against cancer. He is survived by his children Mariano Arturo, Marco Antonio, Miguel Adrian and Myrna Araceli Sandoval. Services were held at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Mariano was laid to rest in Pierce Brothers Crestlawn Memorial Park in Riverside, California.

Mariano Sandoval was always drawn to what was measurable, practical and factual. He was a very competent person who expected competence from others. He could be headstrong and certain about the way things were suppose to be. He was determined in every aspect of his life and certain that he was usually right about things. He trusted his intuition over all else, even if it opposed the popular belief, and he had faith in his inner vision and speculations. He wanted to be acknowledged by others as having made a contribution to whatever he was working on. His family and friends will miss his fierce determination, relentless innovations and analytic mind. He leaves with all those who knew him many wonderful memories.