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Luz “Louie” Guerra
04/30/1930 — 07/14/2013
From West, Richland, WA | Born in Rio Grande City, TX
Luz “Louie” Guerra
Luz "Louie" Guerra On July 14, 2013 Luz "Louie" Guerra, age 83 of West Richland died after a courageous battle with Leukemia. He passed away at Kadlec Medical Center surrounded by his family. Louie was born in Rio Grande City, Texas on April 30, 1930 to Gonzalo and Porfiria Gomez Guerra. He grew up in Edinburg, Texas, attended schools there until age 13 when he quit to work in the cotton & tomato fields of Arkansas, Georgia and Florida to help his parents support the family. Later, he worked for his father in the family trucking business. In 1952, Louie joined the United States Marine Corps, serving two years during the Korean War. In 1955, he married Norberta Bertha Villanueva in Edinburg, Texas. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Washington state, settling in Granger where they raised their five daughters.
During the early years of their marriage, Louie worked for Garrett and Pat Schilperoort at their family orchard in Outlook until 1965 when he went to work for the Granger School district as a school bus driver and custodian. In 1977, Louie was hired by Rockwell Hanford as a bus driver for the Hanford site, eventually retiring from Westinghouse Hanford in 1993. In 1998, Louie and Bertha moved to West Richland to live closer to their children and grandchildren.
Louie is preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, Lionel and Lazaro. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, his daughters: Janie Jose Salazar, Lily Bill Parnell and Hope Guerra all of West Richland, Esther Rial Steichen of Richland, Gloria Guerra of Pasco, seven grandchildren: Daniel Salazar, Aron Salazar, Jaime Salazar, Erica Michael Richardson, Kristen Parnell, Allison Parnell, Emily Gonzalez and two great-grandsons: Xzavier Gonzalez and Tyson Richardson. Also surviving him are his brothers: Lisandro, Gonzalo Jr., Rene Guerra of Edinburg, Texas, his sisters: Adelina Pulido of Edinburg, Texas and Maria Balderas of Dinuba, California as well as numerous nieces and nephews in Texas, Washington and California.
Louie loved music, especially playing his harmonica, the same one his mom sent him while he was serving with the Marines more than 60 years ago. He took advantage of every opportunity to play it at family gatherings, holiday events, weddings, even restaurants when a patron was celebrating a birthday. In the last few months of his life, while waiting in the lobby of the cancer center for his doctor's appointments or chemo-therapy sessions, he would play for other patients.
Wherever Louie was, his harmonica was always close by. You would hear him play "You Are My Sunshine" or a Mexican polka or two. He and his music will be missed by all.
Viewing will be held on Thursday, July 18, 2013 beginning at 1:00pm until 8:00pm, with the rosary held at 7:00 pm at Einan's Funeral Home off the bypass in Richland. Mass of the Christian Burial will be held at Christ the King Catholic Church 1120 Stevens Drive, Richland on Friday, July 19, 2013 at 11:00am. Einan's Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
I didn’t know “Louie” but is doesn’t matter, he was a Marine and that’s all it counts. Semper Fi, friend.
Please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss…our thoughts are with your family during this difficult time.
Lutz Family
Dear Bertha & Family,
My prayers are with you and your family. I will always remember his smile and his love of music. It’s not easy but take one day at a time like the song says and God will give you all the strength to get past this. May God Bless you all and take care. Love you all.
Bertha & family,
Our heartfelt condolences to you & your family.
Chris Lozano & Rene Cantu
“May God comfort you & all your family with His peace and strength during this difficult time. My heartfelt condolence.
I remember him as very kind and happy, intrested and intresting.
Tia, Lo siento mucho lo de mi Tio, Dios lo tiene en su Santa Gloria, Uncle Louis fue un hombre bueno de corazon, un abrazo Tia y be strong.
Parnells and Esther
So sorry for your loss. May The Lord give you comfort and peace at this difficult time. Thinking of you!
We have two ways of remembering people who leave us and start another journey. We shed tears because they are no longer with us, and we smile and remember them through our countless memories of times spent together. Our sincere condolences on your loss.
Our condolences to all of his family. Louie, thank you for all the wonderful memories and what joy you brought to all of us with your sense of humor and your love of music. You are at peace now and with all your loved ones in Heaven, I know we will see you again and it will be wonderful to hear you play your harmonica again.
With all our respect Poncho and Cuca Botello
I didn’t know “Louie” but is doesn’t matter, he was a Marine and that’s all it counts. Semper Fi, friend.
Please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss…our thoughts are with your family during this difficult time.
Lutz Family
Dear Bertha & Family,
My prayers are with you and your family. I will always remember his smile and his love of music. It’s not easy but take one day at a time like the song says and God will give you all the strength to get past this. May God Bless you all and take care. Love you all.
Bertha & family,
Our heartfelt condolences to you & your family.
Chris Lozano & Rene Cantu
“May God comfort you & all your family with His peace and strength during this difficult time. My heartfelt condolence.
I remember him as very kind and happy, intrested and intresting.
Tia, Lo siento mucho lo de mi Tio, Dios lo tiene en su Santa Gloria, Uncle Louis fue un hombre bueno de corazon, un abrazo Tia y be strong.
Parnells and Esther
So sorry for your loss. May The Lord give you comfort and peace at this difficult time. Thinking of you!
We have two ways of remembering people who leave us and start another journey. We shed tears because they are no longer with us, and we smile and remember them through our countless memories of times spent together. Our sincere condolences on your loss.
Our condolences to all of his family. Louie, thank you for all the wonderful memories and what joy you brought to all of us with your sense of humor and your love of music. You are at peace now and with all your loved ones in Heaven, I know we will see you again and it will be wonderful to hear you play your harmonica again.
With all our respect Poncho and Cuca Botello
Our thoughts & prayers are with you during this time. Hold your memories of your dad/grandpa in your heart & he’ll be with you always.
A toda la familia guerra,Salazar y Parnell que dios les de mucha Fortaleza . Sigan adelante!!! Abrazos y Saludos. Los tendremos en nuestras oracionesz
Brenda, Alex, Alyssa, and I wish to express our condolences on hearing of Louie’s passing. Despite knowing for some time Louie was having medical problems, his passing came as a surprise and a source of sadness. We will miss him. I will miss his dropping by to chat about cars, trucks, politics, and anything else that popped into our minds. We had fun speaking Spanish to each other. Laughter always erupted as we quipped about people and places in Spanish. I came to admire his sense of honor he felt for his country, his honor in having good character, and his willingness to help others. He was a good man. My family is richer for having known him. Vaya con Dios mi amigo.
Our greatest sympathy goes out to all the Family, we pray to God that he gives you all the strenght you need in this difficult time. We will miss our dear Tio Louie, we will keep so many memories in our hearts of him. The best is his “dance”, boy did he love to dance and play his music. Thank you Tio for that. We love you all, God Bless you all.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
Sorry for your loss! My thoughts and prayers are with you and the whole family!!
Guerra Family,Our thoughts and Prayers are with you at this time.We remember him at the ranch and also as our bus driver in grade school.He had that twinkle in his eye and always gave it to you straight!We send our love to the family!
Our thoughts and prayers are with you guys and we are so sorry. I remember all of those hot early mornings working in the fields we had a lot of fun together. May god watch over you and your loved ones.
We are very sorry for Tio Luz and we know that what you going through with the pain and sorrow. We are thinking about you all and we will keep you in ours prayers We will dearly miss Tio Luz and we remember all the memories of him playing and dancing. We also praying for Tio Louie as well for you all.
Love from your niece and cousins
ELSA GUERRA && DINA PONCE
Guestbook for
Luz “Louie” Guerra