In Memory of Juan Arturo Gaytan Espinoza
September 13, 1977 - April 17, 2005
    Juan Arturo was born in Durango, Mexico. He spent his childhood and teens years there with his 8 other siblings. 4 brothers and  4 sisters. He lost his oldest sister to a car accident when she was in her early 20�s. Arturo's dad died when he was about 14 years old and  his mother died September 2003. They were very close.
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    When he started elementary school, he would run away each day. His dad tried and tried to get him to stay at school, but nothing worked. His dad had to bribe him with toys to get him to go to school. He eventually learned to really like school and even performed in poetry reading contests and was active in debate. If you knew Arturo, it was not worth debating with him. He enjoyed calculus and geometry. He went to college along with high school and earned an associates degree in Child Psychology. He really enjoyed learning.
    He had a relationship that brought forth 2 children. Sergio Arturo and Jose Carmen. When the youngest was a year and a half he came to the United States due to unfortunate circumstances. He thought of them very often and did what he could to help provide for them if he could. He arrived in January 1997.
     He worked for Arby�s and Wendy�s where he met his future wife. The first time she saw him she thought to herself he�s cute, but he probably doesn�t speak English. He spoke very little at that time, but he quickly learned and became very fluent in English during their marriage. Arturo tried to court Colleen over the first 8 months he worked at Wendy�s, but she wouldn�t give him the time of day. When she finally gave in they dated for a couple months and then he proposed on Christmas Eve. He brought the engagement ring in a rose shaped box. They were married January 22, 1999.
    Meeting the in-laws can be hard on anyone. Arturo met Colleen�s parents on Christmas day. He was so nervous and didn�t know what to do with himself that he washed their dishes. It took awhile but he became more comfortable with them. He eventually started kissing his father in-law on the cheek with a hug in greeting as a friendly joke. Dad would tell him to knock it off. It soon became so natural that it would seem strange if he didn�t give him a kiss on the cheek.
     Arturo really cared for his mother in-law. Even through all his trials over the last 4 � months of his life, he always asked how she was doing no matter how bad he was doing. He loved to help her. Before he discovered his illness, he would go out several days a week an help her with her paper route when he could. Unfortunately, he gets car sick easily when sitting somewhere other than the front seat and Mom would need to pull over often for him to throw up. He would willingly go for days in a rows despite the inevitable.
    When his daughter, Callie, was born he fell in love with her immediately. He would come and steal her away from mom as soon as he had a chance. He said he felt he loved her so much he just wanted to squeeze her. He refrained himself until she was older. She was quite a chunky baby, just right for her daddy to be able to give big, squashy hugs. Arturo was also lucky enough to be able to catch Juan when he was born. He was so thrilled that he didn�t know what to do with him. Mom had to direct him to wrap the baby.
Callie and Mommy.
Juan and Daddy.
    Even though their 2 older children, Derek and Jennissa, were not Arturo�s biologically, he treated the children all the same  and even thanked Colleen for the 2 beautiful children that he didn�t help bring into this world. He expressed his love for them like any father would do for his children. Jennissa is very much a daddy�s girl and would go to him for comfort. He would even go along with her pretending to be a dog and would call her by the name she had chosen as a dog, Crystal. He was always very proud of Derek and wanted the best for him as well as all the other children.
Derek
Jennissa
    He was never one to follow the crowd. He had an upbeat attitude and was very optimistic. He was all about being himself, an individual. He didn�t like to be like everyone else and didn�t like to be compared to others. His siblings thought he was a bit odd because of this. He was always very loyal and loving with his family despite their differences. He had many close relationships within his family and they showed their love for each other easily. He was closest to his mom. He missed her immensely when he left Mexico and was unable to see her after he left. She died in September of 2003 from cancer. He recently took a trip to Mexico and he said it didn�t feel like home because his mom wasn�t there. I am sure that when he passed she was one of the first ones there to welcome him with open arms.
    One of his biggest hobbies was music. He loved music and couldn�t seem to be able to do anything unless it was playing in the back ground. He listened to so many different types of music that it is difficult to name his favorites. Anything from opera to rap could be heard when he was around. He also loved to dance, but he unfortunately had a wife who couldn�t even do a 2 step. So, he would dance by himself with an imaginary partner. He also loved movies and was a big Jackie Chan fan. He had always wanted to learn martial arts.     He picked up sewing and enjoyed making his own pants and under clothing. His wife felt at times he was a better seamstress than she. Once he even learned a few crochet stitches. He was definitely not afraid to try something new or different.
     He was a great cook. He could put together something out of nothing and it would taste great. Once he made pork chops when some nephews were over. They were so good that the boys were actually physically fighting over the last chops. He also learned about preparation of meats in school and butchered certain animals for the family restaurant that his mother owned.
    Arturo was famous for hurting himself. He brandished many scars. Most were fast food tattoos. One he got from an accident as a child. His father accidentally hit him on the forehead between the eyes with a belt buckle. It left a very large scar. He also received scarring when he was side swiped by a car on his way home from work, while riding a bike.
     When ever he worked on something that involved tools he always seemed to break something or hurt himself. Once he accidentally put a industrial type staple into his thumb. He cut himself on many occasions and he would act like it was nothing more than a paper cut. He was not one to complain about pain. He was rarely, if ever, sick with so much as a cold. He seemed pretty tough and healthy most of his life.
     During his life he mostly worked in restaurants as a manager. He was famous for coming into a restaurant and turning things up side down. He worked very hard to whip it into shape. Arturo had to �step outside� a few times at an employees request because they didn�t want to work anymore than they had before he came. Customers always commented on how much nicer it was to visit the restaurant since he took charge. He always tried to do his best and would often go beyond what was required.
     Arturo passed away April 17, 2005. He had terminal colon cancer; diagnosed December 2004. Arturo will be missed by his family very much, but they find that they get most of their comfort in the atonement and they know that they will be parted for a time and be able to be reunited beyond the veil when it is their time to pass.
Our first and last family photo. Christmas of 2004, weeks after Arturo's diagnosis.
    Arturo's fifth child was born 5/5/05. Kind of a special day. Cinco de Mayo. I think she came that day just for him. She was named Elena.
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