Jesus Reynoso Reynoso

Jesse, as most knew him by, grew up in Woodlake, CA, claiming Pomegranate and the East end of Lakeview as the playground for him and a group of neighborhood friends. He told tales of playing kick the can, cowboys and Indians, and rolling a tire with a stick down Lakeview before its development, “when it was all just tall grass.” One of his greatest memories as a youth was when the Gomez family bought the first television in the neighborhood. He recalls he, and the rest of the neighborhood friends gathering at the Gomez home to watch TV. shows.

If you had the opportunity to hear some of Jesse’s stories, they would have consisted of him walking the family cow to where the Woodlake Post Office is now located to graze while he was in school. He remembered that there was an elephant once tied to the corner of Lakeview and Pomegranate while the circus was in town. He told how he would rummage through the ashes of the burned trash from the Woodlake movie theater to look for change so he could buy an ice cream or soda. He remembered running from his mom and dad as he and his brother walked over the freshly laid adobe bricks leaving their footprints behind. One of his most remembered tales was of how the sky lit up so bright in the early morning hours after an atomic bomb test in the 1950’s. He remembered, “the sky lit up so bright like it was daytime. I had never seen anything so bright like that ever before.”

Growing up as a migrant farmworker, he traveled to many regions harvesting seasonal crops with his family. In high school, he took welding classes where he built equipment that helped the family with work and home. He placed first for a trailer he made in his welding class at the Tulare County Fair, and he placed third in a Future Farmers of America (FFA) safety contest.

After high school, he departed for Fort Ord, California after being drafted into the United States Army and served a tour in Vietnam. His service was one of the most prideful experiences he often shared. Upon his Honorable Discharge in 1971, he returned to Woodlake and continued to help his family harvest crops and work on the family farm. He was a fast harvester. Sometimes he worked a little harder to impress a cute young lady who became his future wife. He was not ashamed to admit that he was not the fastest harvester; no one could harvest like his father.

Jesse and his dad started a farm labor contracting and trucking business. This business blossomed into a well-known company, Central Valley Labor Service, Inc., that employed many local residents. Jesse harvested a variety of agricultural crops from Fresno to Arvin and Lost Hills. After three generations of Reynoso’s working for the company, it closed at the end of 2005. This closure did not stop him from working. Many local ranchers still wanted Jesse to harvest their fields, so he worked with some new farm labor contractors in the area. He did not fully retire from agriculture until he was in his mid-70s.

One of Jesse’s greatest joys was to see his great-granddaughter, Amy. No matter if Amy was pushing or pulling him to where she wanted to go, he was excited to see her. He marveled at her energy and high spirit and often said, “She is very smart!”

Jesus was preceded in death by his father Juan O'Campo Reynoso and his mother Mercedes R. Reynoso, his former spouse and lifelong friend Petra Morales, his son David Christopher Reynoso, and his sisters Carmen Salcedo and Maria Trinidad Reynoso.

Jesus is survived by his brother Damaso Reynoso and sister Alice Flores. He is also survived by his son Benjamin Jesus Reynoso and his wife Maria M. Reynoso, and his son Richard Steven Reynoso. He is blessed to be survived by his grandchildren Antonio Javier Reynoso and his wife Julia Reynoso, Cassandra Desiree Go and her husband Immanuel Go, Emiliano Francisco Reynoso, Samantha Reynoso, Celine Reynoso, and Olivia Chavez. He is extremely blessed to be survived by his great-grandchildren Amy Julieta Reynoso, Teyo Jayden Reynoso, AJ Reynoso, Clara Reynoso, Violet Reynoso, Lily Reynoso, and Johnny Jr. Chavez.

Following the burial ceremony, there will be a small reception at the Woodlake Veterans Memorial Building from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m.

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They speak more eloquently than 10,000 tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love.”

—Washington Irving