Uncle Pro: 'A lovely man'

He was tall and thin and he wore glasses and a mustache on his handsome, brown face. He liked cardigan sweaters, he smiled easily and often, and he loved talking and watching baseball. He led a simple life in Gonzales, California, the little town in Monterey County where he resided all his life. And most of all, he adored his wife and children and his granddaughter Natasha.

He was Edward Gonzales, my Aunt Ramona's husband, a brother-in-law to my mom, and he was my godfather, the man I chose among my 15 uncles on both sides to stand up for me when I went through the sacrament of confirmation in the Catholic Church. Most people would have called him Uncle Eddie. Within our family, he was known as Uncle Pro -- short for professor, because he just looked like one.

This past weekend, my Uncle Pro died at age 80, less than two weeks from his next birthday. My mom phoned me Saturday afternoon to let me know he'd been hospitalized with stomach issues and things didn't look good. He died that same day, with doctors unable to operate.

I was so sad to hear of my tio's death. He was a wonderful man, so generous in spirit and deed. He always, always made me feel welcome -- and special -- in his home. He was quick to laugh, and genuinely wanted to know what was going on in my life, both as a boy and later as a father and husband.

As a youth, I remember well the teasing and needling he and my mom would engage in, with each of them going back and forth from rapid-fire Spanish to English and back again. He and his wife Ramona were a lovely couple and I know he took it hard when she preceded him in death. Still, he was there for his two daughters and two sons and he positively beamed whenever Natasha, the daughter of my cousin Lisa, was in his company.

I didn't get to see him much after I moved to Oregon. He retired from a supervisory job at the local seed company and devoted himself to his family. The last time I saw him, if I'm not mistaken, was when I took some time out from a business trip to San Jose to drive down and spend the night at his house. He treated me to breakfast at a modest little cafe, where everyone in the place knew "Pro" and wished him well. We walked with Natasha through the quiet neighborhood streets and he took me out to a winery. (Gonzales, after all, is the self-proclaimed wine capital of Monterey County.)

The Monterey County Herald published his obituary today. I hadn't realized that he had served in the Air Force during the Korean Conflict, and had participated in the Berlin Airlift.

Thursday there will be a visitation and recitation of the rosary, followed by a funeral Mass and burial on Friday. I can't be there in person to say a final goodbye but I will always carry the fondest of memories of my Uncle Pro.

When I told Lori of his passing, she said simply: "The world has lost a lovely man."