Visitation: 6-8 pm, Friday, April 23, 2021, Biggers Funeral Chapel
Service: 11:00 am, Saturday, April 24, 2021, Biggers Funeral Chapel
April 13, 2021 was the first night in weeks my father was able to sleep peacefully, realistically months, because of the pain. Now he sleeps in Jehovah’s memory and when the time is right, God will call out his name, Raymundo “Mundo” Vázquez-Hernadez, and he’ll wake up, pain-free, better than ever.
Simply put, my dads life started out hard and sad. Growing up in his small pueblito of Muzquiz, Coahuila in Mexico, Mundo was inadvertently orphaned by the time he was 12. He had previously left school to work and support his mother until she passed. He was then raised by his stepfather and stepmother and found himself in a blended family that only taught him to open his heart wider. He learned to embrace strangers and the results were good and bad.
Raymundo found his first love in vehicles working at the Ford Manufacturing plant in Mexico. He had a desire to start a family of his own but hadn’t surrounded himself with the right people. He took a chance one night and met the love of his life at a dance. Elsa Santos was so pretty and had the most genuine heart that emitted through her smile. Their 45 year marriage began and so did the dream of a bright future. They decided to leave the Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras border and venture out to North Texas. For their six kids, it afforded them a better opportunity although they could not financially afford it themselves. There were difficult times, in 1990, their son, Manuel drowned in an unfortunate accident. The drinking got worse and the frustration of loss was unbearable. Through it though, love prevailed. Time passed and as the children began to have grandchildren, a new type of love was born.
I searched for old pictures in hopes of finding some with me and dad. The reality was, it was always my dad taking the pictures, usually of all seven of his grand babies. He loved us all and wanted us by his side. He was such a character. Some of you have heard the funny stories about the herd of “free-range” chickens in Northside, the army of stray cats, not to exclude the broadening of what constitutes a “coyote”. I’m not even sure he ever got rid of the fighting roosters. He was witty and direct. My dad never wanted anyone to feel down and defeated. He was quick to offer his family what it took to get a smile, whether it would be ice cream, fireworks, or a simple reminder that we would always have him.
He was a foodie indeed. He loved anything unusual that he could get his hands on. When you grow up in poverty, you make use of every part of the animal. Unfortunately his indulgence got the best of him. It started with the diabetes, and in time other illnesses accumulated to his detriment. I don’t think he was being selfish or careless. When asked why he ate the way he did he replied, “I grew up poor and we didn’t have anything to eat. So when I finally had money I wanted to eat anything I wanted.” Fried chicken didn’t kill my father, genetics possibly but surely human imperfection played the dominant role, for which we’re all guilty. By mercy and by love we got to keep him as long as we did.
We didn’t know how sick his body was until he got to the hospital. He always told us he just needed some Tylenol. In hindsight, I don’t think he was being naïve, stubborn yes, but his decision to endure the pain was motivated by love. He wanted more time with his grandchildren and the family he built with Elsa. His body survived so much in so little time. He truly was fighting to see us again. Through the video chats, phone calls, and poster boards plastered with family pictures to keep him company in insolation, I hope he knows we were fighting to keep him as well. His life may have started out hard and sad, but it was able to end surrounded by the love he’d always dreamed of.
“[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians: 7,8) I often told myself I wish love were enough to keep him alive. But I was mistaken, it’s precisely because of love he will live again and will never feel or remember what’s it’s like to be sick (Isaiah 33:24).
An immense thank you to the medical staff and nurses at Medical City, Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Reddy, Dr. Tio, Dr. Wright and RN Cassandra. Thank you for taking our every call for updates and calling us back via video to talk and allow my dad to hear and see us until the end. These nurses and doctors braved the virus and allowed our love to reach him. Thank you for allowing all his family to hold his hand in person and say goodbye one last time.
Jehovah God answered each specific prayer. You’re loving kindness and mercy for my father stayed with him until his last breath. Thank you Heavenly Father and you deserve all the “glory and the honor and the power” because all this comfort was possible through you. (Revelation 4:11)
Raymundo was preceded in death by his biological parents, Pablo Vazquez and Elba Sulema Hernadez; step-parents, Lauro & Enriqueta Martínez; his dear son, Manuel Vasquez.
Mundo is survived by his wife of 45 years, Elsa Juanita Santos; his children and legacy, Juvenal, Ray, Elva Sulema, Jose Ernesto and Lauro Vasquez; his siblings, Martha, Laura, Oralia, Lupe, Blanca and Enrique; his grandchildren y tesoros, Alexa, Fernando, Josh, Daniel, Javy, Jayden and Julian; lastly, his fierce guardian and Chihuahua, Nacho. Nacho traveled 8 miles to reunite with his owner last year.
Papi, I love you. Thank you for naming me, get some rest and I’ll see you on the other side.
“With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:3,4
New World Translation