Juan José Huerta was born on May 6, 1928 in the small town of Villa Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico to Pablo and Maria (Garcia). If you were the listening type, Juan had stories to share and preferably with some mariachi music playing in the background.
The stories he was most proud of were of his childhood and how at a very young age he was taught the importance of hard work. He was fourteen years old when he traveled by foot for nine days to the state of Nayarit to harvest tobacco. Many people would make the trek to the tobacco ranches to earn 4.50 pesos a day – a fortune compared to the .75 pesos a day he’d earn in his village. “Yo no quiera estar pobre. Yo queria tener algo, ser alguien, como los rancheros, con un buen caballo, sus ranchos grandes y llenos de vacas. Yo queria ser esa persona.”
He worked two tobacco seasons and earned enough money to buy a small ranch. Then his dad bought him a nice horse to keep him close to home. Juan fell in love with charreada (rodeo) and became quite good at it, but according to him the horse deserves all of the credit. “Yo tenia mi buena pistola, sombrero de charro y una buena chamarra. Fuí de los buenos para eso del caballo, porque si el caballo no sirve, uno, como hombre no puede hacer nada.”
He left Villa Guerrero and headed north to the U.S. in search of opportunity. He arrived in Santa Barbara in 1950, and first picked lemons in Goleta, then did railroad work near Tajiguas and helped with the building of the bridge near Dos Pueblos Ranch and the Tecolote Tunnel. In 1958, he was introduced to Mr. Sake “Willy” and Mr. Ochi. They introduced him to gardening and the job he would do proudly until he was 87.
Señor Huerta lived, worked, loved and played hard. He was proud of his Mexican roots, and madly in love with the City of Santa Barbara. Juan was thankful for the many years he lived. He is survived by his wife, Luz Elena Huerta, many children, grandchildren and brothers and sisters.
The funeral mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Guadalupe on Wednesday, September 2, 2020 at 10:00 am followed immediately by burial at Calvary Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Pueblo del Rey Funeral Services.
