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This is Priscilla Leva with an interview with Alfred Zepeda on June 22, 2016. So, just cut it. Um So just generally, if you might wanna tell me

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when and where you were born. I was, uh, I was born here in Los Angeles in 1938. Uh, my, um, uh, from the hospital, of course my

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parents brought me to, to Chavez Rvine to a neighborhood. uh, Chavez Rivi consisted of three neighborhoods. Uh, one was called Bishop and the other one Loma and Em Palo Verde, which is where I, I, yeah,

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I, that's where. I lived until I was 14 years old. Where were your parents from? One of them, uh, my parents were from Mexico.

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One was from Mazatlan, my mother, and my father was from Colima. Do you know where they met? They met here.

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They met here in Los Angeles. Both of them came here after to, to get away from the, from war-torn Mexico after the revolution, and, and they came here and they met here and they got

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married here and they had 55 sons, no daughters here. Did they move when they came to Los Angeles? Do you know where they came to? They came.

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They lived in, uh, in San Pedro, not, not both of them, but my father lived in San Pedro for a while. And when he buried my mother, he took her to

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live there, and then they moved, uh. They moved to Bunker Hill for a while, and then they came to Gloma and then they finally settled in. Palo Verde Well, around here.

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Did they own houses, all of those places? No, no, they only own, own the property in Palo Verde. That's, that's where, where they would.

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That they had a they had a property that consisted of two homes. Uh, it had a, a, a. Commercial little building that was used as a cleaners, you

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know, for people for cleaning, uh, and, uh. That was it. That was it. That was, that was, that was their, their property that

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they owned. And so one more doubt. That was in Carlorete and so in Lalo. No, they only rent it.

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They rented in La Loma. They also lived in on Bishop. They rented there too, so they moved around here in this area quite frequently until they finally settled in Pado

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Verde, uh, so. And when you were born, were you born to the house in Palo Red? Yes, yes, I was born to the house in Palo.

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Oh, sorry, no, go ahead, go ahead. Um, what, what did your parents do? My, my, my mother was a homemaker, you know, of course during that time, that's what women did, and my

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father was a baker by trade, you know, he used to, uh, he used to work in in bakeries. That's how he made his living. He also had his own, his own bakeries and businesses

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that he established himself. There you. Wrong on, that's, that was. Where we always had pies, doughnuts and stuff like that.

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And so. But my mother stood home, raised, have raised her five boys. Where were his bakeries?

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He had a bakery on Temple Street. And then he had one in Cypress Park in Cyprus, and then he uh He worked for various, uh, various companies, you know, that made pies and stuff like that

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throughout the city, you know, he also worked for Southern California Edison Company, uh, before the war, before World War II, during the Depression, that's where he worked. Well, that was, that was mainly it until he retired,

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um. My mother passed when she was 83 years old, and My father. What the 80.

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And 9 months after my mother died, he married a woman that was like 28 or 29 and. And uh eventually they wound up she was from Mexico. They wound up going back to her hometown and he

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built her a house over there and established a a bakery over there and uh and and uh in in a general store, a grocery store that that he left her after for her to make a living.

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So that's, that's where he wound up in Mexico. Now my mom's here with us. She's buried here at the resurrection cemeteries. My family was there too.

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Did, um, so did he just rent out that dry cleaners? Yes, yeah, it was a rental and one of the houses was a rental that he rented.

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So when you were, when, when he was owning the bakeries, were you, how old were you? Well, when, uh, the one on Temple Street. I was like 8 years old.

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And the one in Cypress Park is because from here we moved over there, uh, to Cypress Park. I was, uh, I was married already, so I had to have been in my 30s, early late 20s when

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he, when he, when he started that one for us. And you were the, in terms of how many kids, where did you fall? The last one, the 5th 1.

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I was the 5th 1. And so where did you spend most of your time when you were little? When I, well, when I was in, in when, you

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know, from the time I was born until I was 14, I spend it here. You know, in the neighborhood roaming the hills here flying kites or, you know, getting trapboard spiders or whatever, you

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know, that sliding down green grass on cardboards and, you know, whatever we. Yeah, well, you know, whatever we were doing at the time.

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Because it was, it was a very unique place, very unique. I've, I've been all over the United States and I've never found a place like, like the one we had

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here where. Uh, not too many people can say that they can go 3 blocks from their home. And they know every person that lives.

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On that street on both sides that they know who lives there and you know and and we did here we knew three blocks away whatever we knew we knew everybody that lived you know where and and uh so

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it was it was it was very unique you know we never We never had to lock our doors because nobody was going to break in. Everybody knew each other, you know, and uh.

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Uh, women for sure never got assaulted, never, never. You know, not, not here in the neighborhood. They never nothing like that ever happened and uh. So it, it was really a, a very nice place

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to grow up in and it might have been a, a, uh, according to. People from the outside, they would have said it was a very poor place, but it was a very happy

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place. You know, really, I really wish my kids were, you know, grown, you know, you know, grown up there. Like I said, it was a very unique, you know,

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that's why we do these things that we do we're just people that they haven't seen in years. They come very well and, and attend these things and so it's, it's really a nice time that we have

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here when everybody gets together. We really enjoy it. Um. What did your house look like, girl?

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Well, we had um. It wasn't the most beautiful house and, you know, in the in the place, but it uh My mother was um.

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How, how could I say? I don't wanna say nothing bad about her, but she was obsessed with the house being clean all the time. I mean.

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To the point where we were not allowed in the living room. You know, the only people that were allowed in the living room were people that came to visit, you know,

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and we could not open the door to the living room because it might, uh. You know my dust might might get in there, you know, and, and I mean she was really obsessed with,

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with things like that, you know, so the house was wasn't. You know, like prettiest or the, you know, but it was, it was always very clean, very.

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And uh and and they always make sure we got fed that, you know, uh. Until my brothers started growing up, uh, and they started leaving, they, you know, to form their own families and

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stuff like that. But You know, holidays came out because of the economy, you know, you, you never expected presents or anything like that because.

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A present for for Christmas or New Year's or Thanksgiving was that we were we were gonna eat something and that was it. It wasn't gonna be a huge turkey in the middle

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of the table or or things like that, but. But um It, it was, it, it, it was a a happy, a happy house, Mike. My mother, my mother saw to it that, you know,

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we were taken care of. My dad was always working, so. That's the way it was in the in the Mexican families back then.

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But we were, um, we were very fortunate to have grown what we did, uh, we, we had, um. We had 3 cultures. We had 3 cultures that uh we used to go

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over. We had the Mexican culture that our parents brought to us from Mexico that you know the Mexican music and and the food and and you know everything and and

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we spoke Spanish at home and things like that. And then we would go outside, out in the neighborhood there, you know, gather with the guys and whatever and it was a Chicano culture which was, uh, you know,

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brilliant it was different. It was, um. You know, I spoke half Spanish, half English, half, you know, and, and the music was, you know, rock and

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roll and, and swing for the older guys and, and, and rhythm and blues and, and, you know, stuff like that. And then we walked 1 mile or 2 miles down

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and then we were in the American culture. Everything, everything would change and then you go into a different world, you know, when we started going to uh to middle school and stuff like that.

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So when we experienced, we used to experience. You know, we go from going to school, which we were in the American, you know, and then we go home and we would be in the, in the Mexican

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culture, and then tell Mommy, I'll see you later. I'm gonna go play with the guys, and then we were the Chicano culture, you know, so, so it was, uh, it, it was, it was nice growing up like

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that. I tried to explain to my kids, you know, that even though they try, they, it's hard if you didn't live here, you, you're, it's hard to understand what it

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was like, you know. And um that's that's the way that's the way it was for us, you know, right. We, we had a, we had an elementary school there,

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a grade school that we all attended to, and then we, we, we go out, we work for middle school and for high school we had to go out. Where did you go to Midville?

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Uh, it's called, uh, Florence Nightingale over there in Cypress Park. I went there to that one and then I went to Lincoln High School in Lincoln Heights.

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I graduated from there. So what were the, the, how was, uh, the school in Cyprus different than Palo Ver? Well, I didn't go to middle school.

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um, I didn't, oh, the, the one in, it was, it was, uh, a middle school, so everything changes. You have different classes throughout the day. Here in Palo Ver there was one room, one class

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for, for the whole semesters, one teacher, and in middle school it's was six different teachers, you know, different periods. So, so it's, it, you can just completely, you're kind of lost for a while when you go to middle

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school, but After a while you catch on. And uh, did you go with your whole class from Palo Verde to Cypress Park? Some of them.

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Some of them went to Belmont. You know, uh, or to, uh, or to Irving, uh, uh, King, uh, Middle School, but most I'd say 90% went to, went to Nightingale.

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We, we used to go in a group, uh, walk, walk from up here on down to North Broadway in a group because we had, uh. When we were teenagers that we had to ride the

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other two rival neighbor neighborhoods so it was just a precaution shall we say, you know, to it would you would make it down and In one piece But you know, but now we all get together and laugh about

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it, you know, you know, it's just childhood stuff, you know, that. We're all, we all come here. The three neighborhoods get together here and, and we're, we

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have a lot of fun together. Yeah, so, so when you were, when you were younger, did you fit, did you feel like you were based in Palo Verde, or did you feel like a bishop?

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I've always felt based in Palo Verde even after I left I got married, but uh it's always been my roots. I've always been here.

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Did you ever go to the other neighborhoods, or was there any way to do families know each other? Oh, well, I used to go into the other neighborhoods when I was in high school.

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I went to a lot of neighborhoods. It was so different than it is now with, without, uh, without any fear because we, you had friends from high school that were, you know, in the other neighborhoods.

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So I had, we had no problem, you know, we, when I was in high school, I, I never saw a fight, not one fight, yeah. You know, so, so, you know, we all used to

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get along really nice. Mm. But I've always, my roots have always been hurt. In fact, I wish they could throw my ashes here.

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Did anyone live in that you said that the house you lived in, it was two houses. Who lived in the other house? Um, my brother lived for a while.

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Two of my brothers lived there when they got married. They went to live there and then I believe they got their own homes. They bought, you know, and then, uh.

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And there was a couple that lived there at the end that that that lived there. It was, it was like just like a one bedroom, the kitchen, and, and, and a little living room, and

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that was it. That was a, there was more like a bachelor place, you know, so as you would describe it now, you know, but you know, see, it was rented and the

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cleaners was rented and And And so did you, did, did the children work or did you guys ever need to contribute to them, my, um, my brothers, my brothers, uh.

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See, my, my oldest brother is 12 years older than I am. The next brother to me is 6 years older, so there, there were 4 brothers that were 2 years apart,

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and then I came 6 years after. Um, and, uh, my, especially my, my oldest two brothers, they had to go to school to work because of the economy at the time.

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The, the, it was right, right after or the end of the Depression. So for, for the family to survive, they had to reach school and go out and find work, you know,

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wherever they put, and, but that's what they did. They had to. Uh, then we survived. We, uh, we used to, uh, well, there was quite

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a few families, uh, from the neighborhood that used to, uh, during the seasons we used to go to the different, uh, places, uh, to work into fast fruit pickers, you know, and stuff like that.

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You would stay out there a month and then come back and you have money to survive for, for whatever, 3 or 4 months that you know that we've been paid for being out there.

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So quite a few family used to do that. I would miss a month, a month of school, but, you know, that's something that had to be done. Or I was.

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678 probably at the last time I went out there was probably when I was 88 years old. And where did you go? We went to, uh, there was, uh, apricot, uh, farms

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in, in Mill Park right here and also walnut farms and we also went to San Jose for to pick grapes and plums and in Bakersfield too we traveled to those places.

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I don't, I don't, I remember doing it. Maybe they did it more, but I just don't remember. But I remember doing it for 3 or 4 years at, uh, we went out there for me it's like

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that it was like going camping, and then you had all the fruit you could eat, yeah. So did they, um, when you went out to do that, did, what, did they provide housing or where did

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you live? Well, it, it depends on the On where we went to, there, there was, uh, where we used to go to the uh to for the walnuts, uh, they, they

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provided, they provided housing, uh, for the apricot parts and the, uh, great the, uh, the plums and, uh. And, uh, and I go. And the peaches or whatever we went to, it used

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to, it'd be like camping used to take tents and maybe they would provide you with a wood burning stove or to for you to cook. Uh, but that was, that was it.

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It was, uh. It was, it was a Then you have to provide your own, you know, your own place to stay in. So that's what everybody did, and the food was great

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cooking outside and that was great. It was hard on my mother, but it was right because she didn't have a daughter to help her with anything.

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She, she, uh. She had to deal with everything, you know, she. Never Never had anyone to help her with the housework. You know, and uh.

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And of course my dad being uh from Mexico and in over there, the man doesn't get involved in in housework and and then until we grew up and. And started helping our mother, no matter what he said,

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you know, we, you know, helped to wash the dishes or to vacuum or whatever, you know, like that's, that's how it was, you know. When she, she would have to do everything for us,

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so the whole family, the whole family did go to baseball game, the whole family, all the, the 5 brothers, my mother and my father. Sometimes my father was working here and he couldn't vote,

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so he would take us, uh, on the weekend, take us and set up, set everything up for us, and then he'd come back and, and work his job here and.

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And maybe he'd go once, you know, like the 2nd week, but usually he usually he would stay a month. In these places maybe he would go the 2nd week to make sure we had, you know, food or whatever

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and then at the end of the thing he would go back to bring us back home, you know. But a lot of times he would stay with us, you know, work right alongside I, my brother.

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I never worked. I used to do climb the trees and you know I thought I was too small. I wasn't, I mean, I didn't know how to work,

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you know, so, but my brothers did and. How this Made us, they made it made us closer, you know, all of us. Right, we're still, I, I lost a brother, uh, quite

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some time ago, you know, but the other 4, we although we live in different parts of the city. We, we get together like every 2 months and we have lunch and we talk about, you know, uh.

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About our in our youth when we were growing up and mostly about our neighborhood where that we live, you know, it's a. Leaving, leaving the neighbor, especially for my mom, uh, that's,

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that's the only, that's the only part I resent is what happened to my mother, but she lived, she lived in a community where Where she could go out to water her plants and the next door neighbor would be

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doing the same thing and they would talk to each other they, you know, they, and on both sides of the of the house and then, you know. And after we had to read, well, she had found

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herself in a In a place where she, even though she said she never learned how to speak English, she did, she understood it because my brother and I was talking English or really wanted to to understand, and then

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she would tell us, I, I know what you said you know. But when, when, uh. When we moved over there, all of a sudden over

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a weekend, there was no one for her, no one to talk to or uh. My brother and I, because by the time we moved, it was only my next brother and and me and

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myself, you know. So he, I would go to school. He'd go to work or, or to, or to school. He was, he was still continuing school when he was

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there when we moved there, and my dad would go to work and he too was left alone with no, no, no one to talk to, you know, until we would get back home with no one to talk to

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that she, you know, the, the, the people next door and on both sides, um. We were no communication with them, so because actually there were, it was a white neighborhood, completely white.

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And all of a sudden you have this Mexican family moving in there, you know, so it didn't go, it didn't go over very well with one of the neighbors, you know.

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The other one, she was an elderly lady, she repair, you know, she was very nice. But uh we had problems with the our neighbor to the left.

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And uh and, and, but my mother, my mother went into a depression after that because she was alone for, you know, every day. And uh it took its toll on her all.

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That's, she wound up losing her life over over prescribed medication, you know, for her, for her depression and, and, and things like that. That's the only resentment I have for, you know, the

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what happened here. Other than that, a lot of people, a lot of people resent the Dodgers, but I don't. It's, it's, it's, it was a business move.

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I mean, O'Malley would have had to have been crazy not to take advantage of it. I mean, who's gonna give you all these acres of land for nothing just to move your, your team down

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here and tax free? Well, so I don't, I, I don't. Uh, I don't begrudge him or anything, you know, it's, it's a business move.

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The only ones I didn't like were the politicians at the time that, that made it happen. They had offered it. You know, just like if it was their land that

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they were, you know, as it turned out, they made it their land with the eminent domain, even though they violated the law. Because when you, when you declare eminent domain, you have

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to say what you're gonna use the land for, and you have to use it for that purpose. It has by law you're supposed to use it, and, and they turned around and, and use it for something

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else. It was, you know, it was a deception on their part. Yeah.

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That's the only thing I resented, not the badges being here or anything, you know. Yeah, so, so just a little bit about, uh, your mom.

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So did you have a sense of what it was like for like the moms or the tias or even the uh no tias and no tias, no tios, no cousins were they all in Mexico?

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They were in Mexico and we never got to know them. No grandmothers. Well, I, my, my grandmother, my mother's mother came, um.

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One time for two weeks that's how I got to know that I really had a grandmother, but on my father's side, no grandparents, no nothing, so it was it was only the six of us here.

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That's all, you know, if, you know, I couldn't run to my aunt if I got mad at my parents, you know, or things like that. I, I, I didn't, uh.

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So who was your mom's social network? Her neighbors next door, you know, or, or ladies, you know. Ladies that would come to visit her, you know, and

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uh they. And like I said, they would just, you know, it's not they were was informed they didn't go to the front door and knock or see, you know, they might,

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we were never allowed to come in through the front door, so they all knew that we can only go in through the back door of the house. So the ladies would come up in the door, walk

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in, and, you know, and sit there for the better part, part of the day and talk to her while she was doing her, her, uh. Her, her housekeeping, you know, it wasn't the same ladies

00:25:33.600 - 00:25:45.370

all the time, but they were, you know, she, she had her friends there and uh. Uh, the, the thing that in, in, in our neighborhood, uh, a lot of things revolved around the church, you

00:25:45.370 - 00:25:57.980

know, the church, uh. The, like Christmas, you know, the, the church activity or an Easter even more so, you know, so a lot of, a lot of times that's what all we had

00:25:57.980 - 00:26:07.960

was the activity the church would provide, you know, during those times that, that we went, you know, that we were able to, to celebrate the inside that it goes through the church.

00:26:09.290 - 00:26:23.140

You know, cause, uh, the city never, never did anything. I never knew that there was even a a council person that would, that was, you know. You know that we had for the area never saw

00:26:23.140 - 00:26:29.440

a councilman or a or a or a a deputy come. Never nobody from the city. Why?

00:26:29.640 - 00:26:36.560

Because, uh, half of the people couldn't vote. They weren't American citizens and the other half, they didn't care. They didn't care about it.

00:26:36.570 - 00:26:51.550

It didn't mean anything to them. Unto until they started coming back on the service after the war, things started changing, but before then. City Hall, so we were a lost, uh, you know,

00:26:51.690 - 00:27:04.020

um, whatever you wanna call it, we were a lost little place to then didn't mean nothing. And, well, the, the reason we had, uh, so much activity because of the police academy right there, the put

00:27:04.020 - 00:27:16.840

the, you know, the officers and ladies to have to pass through there to, to come to the academy. But we had, uh, we didn't have no activities for the kids up there until there was a police officer

00:27:16.840 - 00:27:26.240

that said that the mayor of appointed to organize the kids in the neighborhood. His name was Julio Gonzalez. Him and his wife spent a lot of time with

00:27:26.240 - 00:27:33.640

us. They organize clubs. They organized sports events. We went to beach parties, parties because of them.

00:27:34.210 - 00:27:46.440

And uh we, we went to different events of wrestling at the American Legion in in uh in Hollywood, uh, different places where, where they where they where they could get us to, you know, in uh to to the

00:27:46.450 - 00:27:55.300

the Rams football games when they, when, uh, when they used to play a charity game even though we were allowed to go in there for free, so they would, um.

00:27:56.590 - 00:28:06.990

They would, he would, he would get the bus that they used to transport the prisoners, you know, with it, and we'd all get in there and besides then there was no seat belts or anything like that, so we

00:28:06.990 - 00:28:15.530

all piled in there and he'd drive us to wherever we were going out. And then the church got involved too, that's the, the Catholic youth organization.

00:28:15.540 - 00:28:29.770

They, they started coming around and organizing. You know, they organize a a football league where we would play teams from other parishes, you know, from From Dogtown, from Macy, and, and all the other neighborhoods, you

00:28:29.770 - 00:28:39.610

know, they would, in fact, they would, they would be play on Sunday right here, you know, there was about 10 teams and they'd be 5 games that would take place here on Sundays for, you know, for the guys

00:28:39.610 - 00:28:51.040

who have something to do instead of being out, uh. You know, doing what they were not supposed to be doing, so. But, but the, the, that couple, you know, the police

00:28:51.040 - 00:29:01.960

officer and his wife Julie, they, they played a very important role in a lot of our lives, uh, that in what they, they had to take us camping in the summertime for two weeks, you know, horseback riding or

00:29:01.960 - 00:29:11.650

whatever, away from their family, you know, out, out of here, and, and we all used to look forward to it, and it there. So he, he changed a lot of lives, uh, you

00:29:11.650 - 00:29:22.930

know, a lot of, uh, a lot of us would have wound up in the wrong place. They had a lot to do with changing our show, showing us that there was other things outside is instead

00:29:22.930 - 00:29:37.530

of, um, just forming gangs or, you know, whatever, so. So he did, he did change our lives and. When a parent, a parent can do so much, but. You know, you have your friends that you were even

00:29:37.530 - 00:29:51.320

hang around with all the time, and sometimes they, they do things that they shouldn't and You can't You can't back away because you live in the neighborhood. We can't, you know, you're, you're not part of, part

00:29:51.320 - 00:30:04.890

of the group, but you're, uh. You live here, so. that But that's that that that was how we grew up, yeah, you know, here that's.

00:30:06.030 - 00:30:15.530

We and then we used to have dancers here too. Well, yeah, girl we used to come. And have and there were some dances on on Friday nights and, and, you know.

00:30:16.780 - 00:30:24.840

Did the, did the young girls go to all these trips, or did he focus on no, the rest year it was a coed. OK.

00:30:25.100 - 00:30:35.740

And what were the dances like? Well, they were, they were, you know, they had, well, you would, what sometimes they would bring in bands to play, but at that time we didn't know, we didn't

00:30:35.740 - 00:30:48.110

know about, about DJs or anything, but that's basically what it was, somebody playing records and yeah yeah. And uh that that's what that's what they were you know we see most of the time they were after

00:30:48.110 - 00:30:58.530

on Friday after school and in the evening we would you know we would come here and they would play records and the For the for the teenagers and the older days, you know.

00:30:59.740 - 00:31:16.150

So But that was Did you, did you feel that there were any, uh, restrictions put on, on the girls that you didn't have or at these dances or just in travels with or, well, you, uh, there was no

00:31:16.150 - 00:31:26.460

restrictions. You weren't gonna try to do anything with it because it most of them had brothers. You know that they were somebody's brother or or a

00:31:26.460 - 00:31:37.590

daughter of somebody that was close to your family or so you know there nothing was gonna happen, uh, you know, and if something would have happened, that poor person would never have been able to come back to the

00:31:37.590 - 00:31:48.830

neighborhood, you know, so every, every, we all knew you have a respect that the respect that the, that the girls that lived here, you know, uh, unless whatever they did on their own with whoever that was their own

00:31:48.830 - 00:31:58.890

business, you know, that was, uh. Oh, there was a, a few couples that got married, uh, you know, that they met, you know, they were, they grew up together and they, and they end up

00:31:58.890 - 00:32:14.660

being married and stuff like that. It was Mary Barry's strict parent in Malala letters. Like to have a boyfriend until they were 60 or 18 or whatever.

00:32:14.670 - 00:32:27.390

There were some of those, but he used to see the girls away from, from care and, and they have boyfriends, you know, so they used to fight from their, from the father, like any other teenager would do, that's

00:32:27.390 - 00:32:36.410

just normal. That's. But, uh, there was, well, girls didn't have to worry about being, being attacked or anything, uh.

00:32:38.470 - 00:32:48.150

So I know you were just, um, you were just 5 when the. The navy men went into Chavezvi. You mean the, the, the zoot zoo riots?

00:32:48.230 - 00:32:56.890

Yeah, my brother learned about it. Do you, what do you know about that or well, grow up saying about it. Well, you know, it's, it's a.

00:33:00.120 - 00:33:15.870

Trying to be different. Trying to be different now, uh, uh, how, how could America wanted everybody to, especially back then, to be one way, you know, and, and we're different, so are the

00:33:15.870 - 00:33:30.110

African Americans were different, you know, the Chinese were different. Everybody, everybody, but they at that, at that, at that time they wanted everybody to be like, uh, like the one that's a, a clone of, of, of, you know,

00:33:30.190 - 00:33:40.910

and, and they were, you know, and. And they and and they weren't going to be, they, they just dug, it just stuck out. The blood in us, we were not gonna be, uh,

00:33:40.930 - 00:33:54.230

uh, you know, we didn't have to be like anybody else, so they, they, they dressed different and, and, and, and then the, the, the, the, especially the there's an armory down here there was an armory down, you know,

00:33:54.550 - 00:34:07.420

that, that was for, for the navy and, uh, and the sailors, uh. Couldn't take the, the, the, the guys, the guy who, you know, didn't, they want, they wanted them to jump

00:34:07.420 - 00:34:17.270

when they talked or whatever, and the guys weren't gonna do that, not only from here but from all the, you know, the Mexicans from all over. They weren't gonna do, they weren't gonna be intimidated by

00:34:17.270 - 00:34:26.090

them because they were sayers. You know, and, and, and of course it took its toll on the night of the riots, you know, that they, you know, uh.

00:34:27.230 - 00:34:38.990

But still that they didn't, we didn't, I mean, well, not me, but my brothers, they didn't change our ways of doing it even though my father objected to it, you know, you know, I mean, he really used to

00:34:39.830 - 00:34:50.010

upset him when the guys, my brother used to get dressed in their, in their suits, you know, and But they weren't gonna change, they weren't gonna, uh, they weren't gonna be forced to change their way of life, the

00:34:50.010 - 00:34:58.690

way that they felt. And, and even though when I, when I became a teenager, the way, you know, the Zoot Zoot Suit era era was gone.

00:34:59.700 - 00:35:10.990

But then When I was a teenager I used to dress in khakis, in khakis with a white t-shirt and a pendleton. You know, that's the way that was our, our, uh,

00:35:11.150 - 00:35:22.950

where the, where the white boys in school they used to dress with Levi's and had, you know, other, you know, the tennis shoes and, and, and that way it was, it's still, it was a different, different way, a

00:35:22.950 - 00:35:31.220

different culture. we were different and, and, uh, we wouldn't, we wouldn't, um, you know, they weren't gonna intimidate us in, into, you know.

00:35:32.930 - 00:35:42.580

Well, unless you wanted it to be that way, but that's, you know, that was OK too, you know, not everybody had to be the same, uh, but I rem I remember the, the, the night of the Zoot Ci

00:35:42.580 - 00:35:53.130

riots, and I'm on my two of my brothers, 3 of them were, were out there, you know, and. And I know one of them came back with it his knuckles kind of um, you know.

00:35:54.380 - 00:36:03.850

Red and Maybe that's the one that's dead already I've done. It didn't change. It didn't change at all.

00:36:03.970 - 00:36:11.360

Nothing changed. They still kept wearing, uh, except that the, the, the, the. The guys from the navy that were here, I guess

00:36:11.360 - 00:36:22.760

they shipped them out overseas after and and different guys came in and. There was no problems after that. I'm sure there was, you know, I am sorry, scattered,

00:36:22.810 - 00:36:34.690

uh, you know. Individual incidents but not like that night of the riots because even the African Americans were were were mixed up in that they went after them too.

00:36:35.740 - 00:36:51.490

That's so It's, it passed, you know, the, the fed went by and another one came in, uh, so it's just like everything else. Like the hippie era, well, it's here and then something

00:36:51.490 - 00:37:02.330

changed and then. And then John Travolta came along and it changed everything and so on and. Yeah Did you um.

00:37:03.450 - 00:37:17.760

You know, part of that is about that the navy men come in, right? So did growing up, did you or your friends feel any specific way about police or about military or outsiders

00:37:17.760 - 00:37:27.920

in general? Well, at that time, the city of Los Angeles was, was very segregated and very racist. I mean very racist.

00:37:28.710 - 00:37:42.090

Uh You um. I don't say we feared the police going up because of what things that happened in our neighborhood involving the police, you know, we didn't fear them.

00:37:42.670 - 00:37:56.620

We, uh, And really didn't hate him. We used to, we used to be like disgusted with the things that we do sometimes, you know, and get away with it, you know, which a lot of, a

00:37:56.620 - 00:38:05.270

lot of things haven't changed, you know, what they do now and get away with it. Well, certain cops, not all of them, and you know, you, you have a perception of a, of a police

00:38:05.270 - 00:38:11.970

officer that did, you know. If you're a Mexican or or a black person, they don't care. They, they can beat on you and no one's gonna,

00:38:12.140 - 00:38:20.460

no one's gonna, uh, take him to court and try him in it. But then we have this, this, this, this police officer Julio and his wife that came in, and he's a

00:38:20.460 - 00:38:29.240

cop, so he changes, he changes everything, you know, the way we look at, you know, not everybody's, uh, uh, like the ones that were here, you know, patrolling him, uh.

00:38:29.590 - 00:38:40.840

And then we had some nice ones at Patrol, you know, there were, you know, but there were some that were really, I mean, they must have been from, from, from Mississippi or where, where, where, where prejudice was rampant,

00:38:40.940 - 00:38:51.590

you know. But uh you know he changed he changed our way of thinking a lot too the way uh you know it's the way we saw the the police department.

00:38:52.660 - 00:39:05.730

So Yeah. I don't know, it's uh Mm. But. Thanks.

00:39:08.850 - 00:39:20.900

Oh, that's well. I don't know what else, what else can I, can I tell you, uh, so. You obviously have a range of experiences between you and

00:39:20.900 - 00:39:28.860

your brothers, right? What were, was, what did you specifically like? Did you play sports? What were your hobbies?

00:39:29.050 - 00:39:39.780

Did you hang out with your brothers a lot? No, no, they were two different, and, and during that, during that time you didn't. We had, uh, different age groups that we hung together,

00:39:39.860 - 00:39:49.380

um, you know, that the different age groups, uh, uh, Palo Verde was, um. It it was a. You went into where you went into the neighborhood it

00:39:49.380 - 00:40:00.540

was, it was over a hill and then down there was this main street like this and then the uh and then you had, you had 3 streets or 4 streets that used to tee off and this was a

00:40:00.540 - 00:40:14.340

main street and then another one here, another one here, and another one over here and that was, but this was the main street, you know, and, uh, in every corner you had, especially in the summertime, you had different

00:40:14.340 - 00:40:22.900

age groups. You know, you had the older guys, uh, in the married guys that used to, there was no TV, so what are you gonna do after you have dinner is

00:40:22.900 - 00:40:34.880

they everybody used to walk down to the main suite and you had your own corner for your, for your age group and, uh, you know, the all the way through we, you know, the maybe from.

00:40:36.020 - 00:40:49.270

The 30 and over or 25 and over and then you had the ones from from 20 to 25 and then you had the 1718 16 over here and then you had us you know way over the the you

00:40:49.270 - 00:41:00.520

know the younger kids you know but we were never allowed. To Mixed in with the other ones. Uh, unless you became a certain age or you don't

00:41:00.800 - 00:41:12.000

go to a certain, you know, uh, to a certain height or whatever, but maybe if you try to mingle with them, they chase you, you know. And uh but that's the I know yeah mostly I,

00:41:12.010 - 00:41:21.910

I, I, I hung around with my own friends, went to school with them, went to the shows on Sunday with them. We went to uh swimming together, you know, he went

00:41:21.910 - 00:41:30.450

to camp we what whatever we did, you know, we all did it together. Uh, the only thing I regret is, um. Most of them are dead.

00:41:31.150 - 00:41:40.590

They're gone already and uh. And we were all very close, so we only had each other, you know, it was, we didn't have anyone else.

00:41:40.650 - 00:41:50.650

It's not like you meet someone in high school that becomes your friend. And you, and you bring him to your house, and you you wouldn't do that, you know, you'd be in

00:41:50.650 - 00:41:59.770

schools, you hung around with your, your guys from the neighborhood, you hung around with them and the guys, you know, and that was, that was, that was it. You made friends, of course you had friends, you know,

00:41:59.890 - 00:42:12.140

from, from other places, but not to, but not to bring him to your neighborhood, you know. It just was something we didn't do. We used to go as a group to other neighborhoods

00:42:12.140 - 00:42:21.690

to dances and stuff like that. We never had trouble. Because we knew each other. But uh Do you know, were you like, you know,

00:42:21.810 - 00:42:33.790

you, you meet girls at school, you know, that you wanna bring home and you know, it didn't, no, we didn't have, we didn't, we didn't do that. We just stuck stuck with our own people, with our

00:42:33.790 - 00:42:51.220

own friends, and all your friends Catholic? Oh, I would say that the neighborhood was 99% public. We had another church in there, uh, uh, a Christian church.

00:42:51.720 - 00:43:00.870

We, and then maybe 1% of the people there, you know. Uh, who attended that church. But that church was very nice to us too, even

00:43:00.870 - 00:43:08.870

though we were Catholic. They, uh, they used to have these old big old like picnics, and they, and they would take the kids even though they were knocking on the, you know, and

00:43:08.870 - 00:43:17.590

they would take them, and you spend the day at the park with them and, and feed us, and they were very nice, you know, so there was that religion was never a problem there.

00:43:17.770 - 00:43:30.690

Everybody, uh, respected, you know, whatever. Whatever that my, my mother, my mother wasn't, uh, she wasn't a churchgoing person because in the, in the morning on Sunday at 4 o'clock, she, she get up to

00:43:30.690 - 00:43:44.330

start ironing for what you were gonna wear to church, you know, and The pants have to be ironed a certain way with the creases and the t-shirts and and stuff like that so she never.

00:43:46.200 - 00:43:57.160

Went to church and uh let's say every Sunday or whatever you, but we did we had to, but she said she'd stay home and she yeah, she, we had to go we were all altar boys too.

00:43:57.600 - 00:44:12.940

All of my brothers and I were altar boys. Uh, in fact, they were, I heard my father and the priest talking about sending me to the seminary. You know, And I was all all excited about going.

00:44:13.920 - 00:44:23.900

I must have been about 9 or 10 or they were they were preparing me to go until I found that there was a difference between girls and boys, and, and I said, heck no, I'm not going, you know.

00:44:28.270 - 00:44:36.450

So, no, I, I didn't. And then I even, I, I stopped being an altar boy. Uh, the priest used to come looking for me at

00:44:36.450 - 00:44:43.750

because I lived a house away from the church. He used to come looking for me to help him with a rosary, and I would hide, you know, I would hide from him because.

00:44:44.470 - 00:44:55.010

Uh Well, to play kick the can or whatever, well, you know, with at night with the girls, you know, and the guys all mixed together, but how was it and I didn't wanna be in church, you know, at

00:44:55.010 - 00:45:04.010

that time, choice. How did you guys become altar boys because of your mom or no, if you just uh the priest, the priest, you know.

00:45:05.590 - 00:45:14.860

Like Luis Santian, he was, he, him and I were altar boys together. He should be. I should have sued him for extortion.

00:45:16.000 - 00:45:24.660

He was a captain of the altar boys. He, he was, Louis was 3 years older than, than I am. And uh And he was a captain, so he would

00:45:24.660 - 00:45:36.280

assign whatever on the high mast they have that incense thing, and if you wanna do that. You had to give him a quarter to be the one to do that incident, you know, things like that.

00:45:39.370 - 00:45:54.650

Uh, Yeah, we, Louis, Louis and I, our families are. We, we go back a long time. My brothers and his brothers and the sisters and you know they go back a long time, but they're compadres

00:45:54.650 - 00:46:05.040

entry they baptize mine I'll baptize yours and so and over and over again so. Fama and the family were very close. Yeah.

00:46:06.790 - 00:46:18.900

So what kind of places in Vallo Verde stand out the most here? The malt shop, the malt shop that are by there. Well, the malt shop was a place where Where we

00:46:18.900 - 00:46:30.420

it was open to us every day. It had a jukebox. They used to sell uh a snow cones. And uh and, and I had a a pool table,

00:46:30.460 - 00:46:39.260

a card table. I don't remember if I had a ping pong table, but we used to go there during the during the day we were allowed there like from 120 until 3

00:46:39.260 - 00:46:47.340

or 4. And then the older bodies started this just start coming in and be there. I didn't even hear the put the records and sometimes

00:46:47.340 - 00:46:57.380

dance with the girls and stuff like that, but that was the gathering place, uh, we, we, we could, we could have it during the day, but then we had to, but then when in summertime we didn't want it

00:46:57.380 - 00:47:08.160

anyway because we've been, we used to come up here to the police academy to go swimming, you know, so we, we had another, another thing to do at that time, but the malt shop was, uh.

00:47:09.250 - 00:47:25.420

For us, Bohoza. And was a place. And you must be having socially like that. We were the places that your parents went there.

00:47:26.860 - 00:47:38.430

Did your parents, like, did your parents have, did your mom ever go a certain place? Never once. Never went anywhere, not while, not while we were, uh,

00:47:38.800 - 00:47:46.110

after we left home. She, she went to visit her family in Mexico a couple of times. So did my dad.

00:47:46.190 - 00:48:00.080

My dad hadn't seen them and or had any contact with him for I, and I think it was like 67 years, and he finally, he finally got caught up. So they did, they, they took a trip by car.

00:48:01.150 - 00:48:11.830

By car, they then they drove and they went to my my mother's uh family and then they went to see his family. And then when he came back he wanted to move

00:48:11.830 - 00:48:21.140

down there and my mom said goodbye I'm not. If you wanna go, go, I'm staying here with my sons. I'm not leaving them, you know, so he had no

00:48:21.140 - 00:48:29.200

choice. Until he left on his own after that, you know, that with, with a new wife that he had. Yes, sir.

00:48:30.260 - 00:48:37.340

Did you own a cart or were there a lot of cars in Chaves? You mean a lot of people? Oh, is that, that, that was a, that's a Mexican

00:48:37.340 - 00:48:44.960

thing to own a car, to get, to get out of high school work and buy a car. That's, that's a dream, you know, at that time that's what it was.

00:48:45.420 - 00:48:55.230

Oh yeah, um, we all did. I, I did, and I was too young, but I used to, uh. I've, I've been working around cars since I was 7

00:48:55.230 - 00:49:04.430

or 8. I used to help my older brother, uh, repair cars like when he wasn't working, he would repair cars in the neighborhood and they would pay him and then I'd

00:49:04.430 - 00:49:12.200

help him. I, I started learning from, from that, you know, from, from. From from him and how to repair cars, you know,

00:49:12.360 - 00:49:20.540

so by the time I was 11 or 12 I could rebuild an engine. I knew how to do that so I knew how to drive them too learn just by looking at them

00:49:20.540 - 00:49:28.020

right and you know. Father had a bar. I had a lot for the admission, but Bob it a bit.

00:49:29.490 - 00:49:35.560

And that's what I get. Fucked up. I was 10 or 11. A friend of mine and I were standing out in

00:49:35.560 - 00:49:45.350

front of the house of my house, and the car was there, and Dad had gone, had gone with my brother or somebody and they saw the car. And then we jumped in and I before the switch

00:49:45.350 - 00:49:58.220

started and took off and we were cruising the park here, you know, it's the thing is else. I was kind of going down the street. And my mother, I mean my father and my brother

00:49:58.220 - 00:50:05.010

were coming up the other way, and they saw me pass by. I could see, I could see their heads just turned, you know, but you know, when they saw, they saw

00:50:05.010 - 00:50:15.270

who was driving, so of course when I brought it back. I parked it and I ran. I gave him a few hours to cool off, you

00:50:15.270 - 00:50:26.210

know, yeah, we didn't, didn't say, but after that, how can we take it all the time, all my other brothers, that car is the other one, the other 4 brothers and my dad, they all had cars.

00:50:30.160 - 00:50:38.470

You know, I've heard stories about the long road up to Chavezma that a lot of people had to walk. We all, we all walked there many times. There was a long.

00:50:41.070 - 00:50:53.970

Danzihiros It this is a street. And reward. What breach committed the. What Parre that.

00:50:54.720 - 00:51:03.370

It's a bomb bomb. And then another one is you're roll here where cut in house is that through there all the world they put that one.

00:51:04.810 - 00:51:25.550

I Li OK, got it. Yeah, no. You get a bike everybody walked in everybody he wanted a boat get sweet car body or you'll be that

00:51:25.550 - 00:51:36.810

unless you're gonna ride down there and there, uh the city put up a. They put a bus, I charge you a quarter, I think they would take you from from.

00:51:38.140 - 00:51:47.750

In the neighborport down to down to North Broadway, so you could catch up the the streetguard there. And then the guys are the older guys, these are the older guys, they got loaded one time and they,

00:51:47.860 - 00:52:00.230

they stole it, so that was, that was the end of the bus, or bus. So who suffers is the the elderly people that have, OK, sometimes the people, you know, some families didn't have

00:52:00.230 - 00:52:09.410

cars. They used to walk down, get the, get the street cardboard downtown, downtown to the central market down on 3rd and Broadway, and here they, here they come with those

00:52:09.410 - 00:52:18.730

big shopping bags, you know, walking all the way up, you know. And the guys destroyed it, you know, just because they got loaded and they, you know, they want to, you

00:52:18.730 - 00:52:30.760

know, I don't know where they went with the bus, but the bus never came back. So and the city didn't didn't replace it. I don't say everybody suffered, you know, for what they

00:52:30.760 - 00:52:47.660

did, right, yeah. Just part We had done it before he boat again. was there ever a sense that, uh, that there were certain families that had more than others or oh, I'm

00:52:47.660 - 00:53:02.500

sure, I'm sure, but, but it wasn't the, the disparity wasn't, um, you know, like millionaires to, you know, very poor people, you know, one thing we didn't have was cardboard box houses I mean that there wasn't none that

00:53:02.500 - 00:53:15.190

we we didn't have that, but mostly I don't think there was a lot of difference between. Between uh one family and the other there might have been a a a a difference in how the money

00:53:15.190 - 00:53:22.710

was spent that they earned, but not how they earned it or or how much they earn. I don't think there was a lot of difference between uh.

00:53:23.600 - 00:53:37.910

Between then, not until after World War II when When uh he started going he started going beyond the immediate uh then then, but then. Then they, they, you know, they would, they would, they

00:53:37.910 - 00:53:48.460

would get better jobs and then they would leave. They would leave and go buy a home someplace else or rent someplace else, but then on, on Friday nights there they were, they'd come back all the time, you

00:53:48.460 - 00:53:59.270

know, and they all, you know, until, until there was nothing to come back to. But there wasn't a, there was, there wasn't a. A lot of difference between between the family that way

00:54:00.040 - 00:54:11.210

nobody could look down on it at one another. We were all the same, came from the same place, you know, same background, same everything, same schooling. So that, you know, that maybe that's why, why we

00:54:11.210 - 00:54:19.770

were able to get along so well, you know, because then, you know, that you didn't have more than I did. You know, Were the houses all generally the same?

00:54:20.670 - 00:54:30.630

No, there there was, there was an exception to, uh, maybe because the ones that owned them were construction workers, that they were fixed up a little nicer than, than, you know.

00:54:31.350 - 00:54:43.190

Uh, and, and up until I would say 1948, except for the people that would, the, the older ones that had to go out to work and everything, but for us it hardly would ever go out anywhere unless your

00:54:43.190 - 00:54:54.550

parent took you to the market or I mean we thought the, the world was like that, you know, that everybody lived the way we did until you, until you start seeing on television once, when television came in and

00:54:54.550 - 00:55:04.170

then you started seeing how. How you know people on the outside live, uh, but for us that that was our world right there. Everything that happened happened for us right there.

00:55:04.910 - 00:55:16.220

You know, I, I, I didn't see the beach until um. Until my older brother got married, uh. Which was, uh, I was, I was 5, I think

00:55:16.220 - 00:55:27.840

because I was his ring boy when he got married and I had never been to the beach until my sister-in-law came in and uh. And she, you know, she, she, they went to the

00:55:27.840 - 00:55:38.540

beach one time and she always, she would always take me along, you know, I would. All the time she would always, my sister-in-law would always include me in everything wherever they went to the shore

00:55:38.540 - 00:55:52.770

to any place she would always take me. Mm But no, there wasn't, there wasn't too much difference between the families. Did you all on in your neighborhood, did you all

00:55:52.770 - 00:56:04.410

have brandy water and indoor restrooms and there was a couple of houses, uh, up here close to the police academy. They were probably the first ones that were made, you

00:56:04.410 - 00:56:17.710

know. Back in the Early 1900s, so you know, there was a couple of houses that I know that didn't have uh an indoor they still had an outhouse when, when,

00:56:17.720 - 00:56:30.330

when we moved but that that's the only two and, and I, I would assume that it was, it was before because the owner or maybe the landlord if they were renting didn't wanna spend or take the time to

00:56:30.330 - 00:56:39.740

do it and, and bring the and bring the lines in because the lines were available. You know, all you had to do was tap into them, but they were available, you know, all the other

00:56:39.740 - 00:56:50.840

houses had plumbing were indoor plumbing. And I remember that. In our house and you wanna take a, a, a, a bath because there was no shower there.

00:56:50.880 - 00:56:58.680

It was a bathtub, you know, you had to go to the heater and, and light a match and light the heater, but it, it wasn't like now, you know, with the thermostat in there.

00:57:00.950 - 00:57:10.470

So, so we used to have to do that, but no, we had, we had indoor thumb. I, I don't remember ever living in a place that, that didn't, you know, so.

00:57:13.730 - 00:57:25.630

So how did you find out that you were moving? I didn't to him. Until the day uh that we actually moved, yeah. During that week, I was at Nightingale.

00:57:25.700 - 00:57:36.930

I was going to middle school already and during that week. We were having a racial. Problems between the white boys and the Mexicans that we

00:57:36.930 - 00:57:49.210

had, we were having fights at, at, at lunchtime and the nutrition between the, the races, you know, and it wasn't really, it wasn't really about the races. It was only between two guys that got into it

00:57:49.210 - 00:57:57.730

and one was a white guy, one was a Mexican from my neighborhood, but it, it. It, it developed into a racial thing. So, uh, during this week, there's a lot of tension

00:57:57.730 - 00:58:08.360

that screws the cops are there every afternoon to make sure that, you know, there's no, no, no big fights or anything. And um and I didn't know where you, you know,

00:58:08.430 - 00:58:20.030

at being 13 years old my parents aren't gonna tell me, you know, we're gonna let you just go wherever they take you and that's it, you know, and then. You know, because I, I thought at one time I

00:58:20.030 - 00:58:29.290

thought we were going to Echo Park, and then I said, oh God, I have to go to a middle school over there someplace, and then to Belmont. And then we were gonna go to El Sereno, so

00:58:29.290 - 00:58:39.580

that was another way I would have to change. And then I didn't hear anything about where they had bought the house or nothing, so yeah, my, my brothers come on a Saturday, and they, and they bring a

00:58:39.580 - 00:58:47.990

truck. They load up all the stuff, and here we go, you know, and then as we wound up in Cypress Park right in the middle of where all the kids

00:58:47.990 - 00:58:55.560

we were having problems with lived. So here I am on Monday morning having to go to school and then I had to walk, you know, to school.

00:58:56.820 - 00:59:11.780

Between all the kids that and and probably you know in a couple of weeks I met, made friends with some of them and never never everything calmed down and, and, and, and then more more guys from here moved

00:59:11.780 - 00:59:22.380

over their family moved over there so and then there was 2 of us and then like 6 of us and then 1 more so but we didn't pick. The kids.

00:59:24.260 - 00:59:38.690

He breaks in the. Is it from the future. I kept it out because it ended. Actually reminds me, do you remember any people who were

00:59:38.690 - 00:59:53.370

laxican taboo yeah. So we, we had a Had a text police. His last name, last name was Gardner. He had a, he had a place there next to

00:59:53.370 - 01:00:04.140

the church. He stood up on the tree. It was quite crunchy. And buller, but he had a lock it out with

01:00:04.140 - 01:00:11.870

it. He was the only 10, there was people but then the other side that had, that had, uh, boats or something, you know, but he, man, I mean a cows,

01:00:11.880 - 01:00:21.040

uh, and we used to go and we used to climb on the fence and then poke it, you know, but, you know, and he used to get, he used to get upset with us, so we didn't know.

01:00:21.080 - 01:00:29.720

He put a, he put electric wire on the fence, you know, and we got zapped. I mean, not, not to hurt us, but we got zapped, you know, so taught us a lesson not to

01:00:29.720 - 01:00:39.690

be. You know, terrorizing this cow. So yeah, but that was him. And then down, down towards going towards Echo Park down

01:00:39.690 - 01:00:51.130

that street that you know there was, uh, a lot of houses down there was more down that way and, and close to the, you know, the hospital, the sanitarium that was right there on the streets over there was

01:00:51.130 - 01:01:03.090

quite a few white families there that, that, but our in, in our there was only one white family. Oh no, and then there was uh one with Chris Martin up on the hill.

01:01:03.630 - 01:01:13.910

The guy that thought he was a mayor, he lived that on a on a hill, you know. There was a white family that lived there, so. Uh, there was some, uh, the, the, the ones that

01:01:14.690 - 01:01:23.450

for people is that because of the rents being so low. That they could afford a place there. Or the the African Americans of Mexico.

01:01:24.330 - 01:01:35.920

The blacks and our family would move in there and Maybe last two weeks. The guys were terrorizing. The Mexican, yeah, they were terrorizing, you know.

01:01:37.020 - 01:01:44.140

Well, what would they do? Well, they intimidate them town that they didn't get out there. They're gonna burn them and burn the house down with

01:01:44.140 - 01:01:51.800

them in it, and, you know, they were, they were terrorizing. Mm. And they, and they won't be, you know, when we

01:01:51.800 - 01:02:02.470

moved there wasn't one black family living there. But they would only come and stay for for a short time and then they would, they would leave. But they didn't mind white people in our neighborhood.

01:02:03.170 - 01:02:14.490

No. Walk wins. Except that you know and I didn't, I don't know why because, uh, the city was so prejudiced against more

01:02:14.490 - 01:02:31.970

so against the Mexicans at the time than they were against the blacks, I think they were more prejudiced against the Mexicans. Yeah And we'd still and I'm sure and, and then

01:02:31.970 - 01:02:39.860

you hear about the different fights in prison between the Mexicans and, and the African Americans, you know, it still hasn't changed it, and I don't know why they do that.

01:02:40.280 - 01:02:47.820

I don't know. Did you ever, did you ever encounter African Americans when you were little, like in, in, no, that that I had, uh, problems with?

01:02:48.040 - 01:02:57.800

No, no, not problems, but just did, oh, in, in middle school, middle school. Oh yeah, yeah, it was good. And, and, and one of them we've had here that

01:02:57.800 - 01:03:09.280

actually lived right on the border between one neighborhood and the other, but he used to go to school. It was, it was, uh, 11 you, it was in, uh, between Bishop and Palo Verde in it.

01:03:10.130 - 01:03:16.860

But he, you know, he went to school with us. So, but, but he, you know, he, uh, the family moved. They, they lasted the longest.

01:03:16.940 - 01:03:25.340

They were, they were there like for 4 years, and then they moved out, you know, but we got along with him. We all, you know, included him in sports, especially that

01:03:25.340 - 01:03:36.350

he was so fast. But we included him in everything, you know, he was. More men. And then, and then you, you encounter more in middle

01:03:36.350 - 01:03:45.320

school and you didn't know. Yes. So when you, you said you found out, you didn't find out you were unloading till the day you moved,

01:03:45.560 - 01:03:54.720

until the day, and there were when we were, when I was, uh, we were driving to the new location to unload, uh, you know, unload the trucks, and, and then I saw, I said, oh my God, I said,

01:03:54.760 - 01:04:05.380

what are, what are we doing here, you know, when did you move? Uh, actually on the weekend of my birthday in 19 January 28th, uh, on the 30th, I think we moved

01:04:05.840 - 01:04:14.950

1952. I remember it because it was my uh my birthday was on that weekend, you know. And uh that's that's when we moved out of here

01:04:14.950 - 01:04:23.910

but there was still a lot of families left when when when we uh when we left our families leaving before that oh yeah yeah there was a lot of it looked like a war zone.

01:04:24.700 - 01:04:34.890

You know that and all the houses that were abandoned a broken windows and you know everything. I don't know. What was that period like when there were people already

01:04:34.890 - 01:04:49.010

gone, but then some of you were still there? It was kind of weird that you come in and you think it is, is, is you had seen pictures of Europe after the bombings of Germany and you know

01:04:49.010 - 01:04:58.220

how they're all, you know, that's the way it looked, that's the way it felt like it had bombed it and you know. You know, with the house is all torn apart and

01:04:58.460 - 01:05:09.440

vandalized and. You know, but that's, that's how it looked, you know, way in no one, no one on the streets, no more, very few people and And I have one of

01:05:09.440 - 01:05:22.050

my closest friends that was that stood there until until the very end. I used to come and visit him all the time. I Finally he moved, he had moved to, they moved

01:05:22.050 - 01:05:31.780

to Lincoln Heights, but he decided to Ronaldo go to Belmont. Well, we stood in touch all the time. You always stood and talk.

01:05:31.930 - 01:05:46.380

We still talk to each other once in a while. Did you, um, when after people started leaving, but there were people there, did, did, you know, life keep going, or life you kept going, especially young, no, no, well,

01:05:46.460 - 01:05:57.840

the mouth shop closed, but, uh, most of the guys, most of the guys my age that left on weekends, they come back. On Fridays and we, we'd party, we get together again

01:05:57.840 - 01:06:09.460

on Friday nights and, and then Saturdays, you know, and then Sundays, uh, most of the time you could catch everybody here at Legion Park, you know, the, the, a group from, from the neighborhood all gathered here.

01:06:10.440 - 01:06:28.820

Very big. Until Until Beatrician we who started. You know, This, this reunion we're gonna have here, they'll probably be about maybe 200 people, maybe more, I hope

01:06:28.820 - 01:06:39.140

more. But I bet there won't be 50 people that actually lived actually lived in the neighborhood. There won't be.

01:06:41.070 - 01:06:55.200

Cause they're gone, they're there, they lay. Of my friends, my friends that I ran with, you know, there's 2. We we 22 guys that I that I that I.

01:06:56.170 - 01:07:09.260

But I actually, you know, went to school with him. Most of them are. I did, told my girl. Either illness or by choice.

01:07:11.720 - 01:07:22.600

Yeah. Yeah, so when did you find out what happens? Oh, when I, when I, we were still here, they, they organized, they organized, uh, the people organized, uh, the

01:07:22.600 - 01:07:33.110

three neighborhoods got together, hired attorneys, and they used to have fundraisers. I was still, probably, like I said I was probably 10 at the time, but I remember they used to

01:07:33.110 - 01:07:42.120

have fundraisers. They used to have dances on weekends, on Saturdays down at Saint Peter's in Saint Peter's Church, the hall they used to, the, the church used to allow the people

01:07:42.120 - 01:07:52.860

to use it to, to, for fundraising. And and they raised a lot of money to uh for the attorneys to fight the the eminent domain thing because especially after they found out that O'Malley was circling

01:07:52.860 - 01:08:03.170

the, the, the, the land in a in a chopper, you know, and then they knew they had been, you know, they had been tricked into it but it it was.

01:08:04.640 - 01:08:16.800

What was the, what was you you Pete started uh. Some people that own the property saw it as a chance to sell it. Because most of the times, unless.

01:08:18.850 - 01:08:30.410

Unless you are. How could I say? You, you, somebody put up your house for sale and you lived there while you would try to buy it,

01:08:30.530 - 01:08:41.050

but you were, you know, you would stay there, but I, you hardly ever saw anybody come from the outside and buy a home there, hardly ever. I mean, people weren't, uh, you didn't see real estate

01:08:41.050 - 01:08:49.480

operators coming up or putting their signs or nothing. That didn't happen. That didn't happen up there, you know, and some people felt there was a chance to get rid of because

01:08:49.480 - 01:08:59.200

otherwise they wouldn't be able to sell it. Nobody was gonna buy it unless you lived there. They, they weren't gonna, you know, wanna come, come in and, and buy it, uh, so, so a lot of

01:08:59.200 - 01:09:13.580

the, they started selling more and more started selling, and then then not too many people were attending the fundraisers. The, the money ran out and the, and the attorneys ran, you know, so, and that's then there was no,

01:09:14.410 - 01:09:23.660

no hope except for the achegas that they stood there until the bitter end. I saw them, um. I saw the city come with the with the marshals

01:09:23.660 - 01:09:31.740

and pull them out of the house and then bulldoze the house right in front of him, you know, and they still didn't wanna leave. They got a tent they pitched a tent out there

01:09:31.740 - 01:09:40.630

and but eventually they had to. There was no, you know, there was no hope of, you know. So how did Dan, I mean, so you were there

01:09:40.630 - 01:09:47.970

when Nana, when the Achingas were, were, yeah, I was there. I was, I was across the street. Luis Santilla was there.

01:09:48.080 - 01:10:01.060

There was a lot of people from the neighborhood. Did you take that in as a young kid, well. I I took it in. As a stories I had.

01:10:02.140 - 01:10:13.300

Read or heard of the Nazi era in Germany, you know, where they would just come and take the, the properties of Jewish people and, and, and that's it. There's nothing they could do about it if they complained,

01:10:13.340 - 01:10:25.900

they shot him in the head, you know, and, and, uh, that, that's, that's what it reminded me of, of, uh, you know, the way that, that the Nazis did to the, to the Jewish people, and that's what it.

01:10:26.970 - 01:10:34.470

Back. It was progress supposedly that and plus, you know, a lot of people enjoy the stadium all, you know, a lot.

01:10:34.510 - 01:10:45.540

I mean, you put it to a vote, you know, there's some people that still, you know, wanna go and complain to City Hall and, you know, like they, they wanna use our organization to that and demand that they,

01:10:45.650 - 01:10:54.070

you know, or I said, we're that, that, that's gone. It's, it passed already. It was that my parents should have done that if they want, you know, I said that it doesn't apply

01:10:54.070 - 01:11:02.160

to me. I didn't, you know, they didn't take my home. They took my parents' home. You know, I, I, I'm resentful because of what happened

01:11:02.160 - 01:11:12.370

to my mom but not, not, not because of in the other part you know. That's, you know, we're, we're here to enjoy our organization is to enjoy ourselves run.

01:11:13.340 - 01:11:25.140

One afternoon, one Saturday out of the year. That and to claim anything or you know across the city, but we must say about join us not to be against us errors.

01:11:27.890 - 01:11:40.010

And he works, Eddie works at the. Let me to the top. I just get up the cat and the cat. Each day.

01:11:43.460 - 01:11:57.880

He They just wet. We can take that up. That's all right. Oh, like I said, you know, there was somebody, the

01:11:57.880 - 01:12:06.680

first person that came in here to appraise the land. There was a guy, but at, at the, he made that. I'm getting ahead of myself, uh, that he came to,

01:12:06.800 - 01:12:18.140

to appraise the land. He gave me, he goes back and makes a report. That the place is erratic place, you know, and I said I played told medica all over these years.

01:12:18.220 - 01:12:28.010

I played, you know, and then people's backyards, and I never once, and I, I swear to God, great, I've never saw a rat. In the numerable.

01:12:29.280 - 01:12:37.220

I never saw a rat. The only ones I saw were the Topeate ones that started coming in from City Hall, and you could keep it there too.

01:12:38.450 - 01:12:51.990

Those are the only rats that sad. Other than that, I mean people had goats, and that guy had had a cow and mean inside rabbits and chickens, you know, dogs and it, but I never saw

01:12:51.990 - 01:12:56.470

rats. I'm, I'm not saying there wasn't any, but I never saw. Yeah.

01:12:57.940 - 01:13:04.610

It, it, it really know the difference between a mouse and a rat. Well then you shouldn't be in an office in the city at all either.

01:13:04.980 - 01:13:16.750

But that guy that came, he wanted, he, he wanted to declare eminent domain to build, uh, low cost cost housing. But then they branded him a a communist and and

01:13:16.930 - 01:13:31.580

and that came to an end. So, you did see city officials in the neighborhood. Well, when, when I hadn't seen one until they uh. Until they came to uh to appraise of that evaluate

01:13:31.580 - 01:13:38.160

it, you know. The one person I did see here. Here was Esther Williams. I don't know if you know who she is, who

01:13:38.160 - 01:13:54.900

was a great Olympian swim, beautiful, beautiful how much she, and she did come there because that the Our director It's Ultra. So I did see Burke.

01:13:55.540 - 01:14:07.160

He's the only one. Well, did people at tangram who were people going into your house or or police officers. Right.

01:14:09.300 - 01:14:18.430

For looking for my brother. And very I mean, that's where I learned to pay some of them. They were pushing my mother away and.

01:14:19.230 - 01:14:25.100

To where she would fall on her back on the floor, you know, and, and like nothing to them it is nothing though. She's just a Mexican be career.

01:14:25.950 - 01:14:37.080

Nothing's gonna happen to me. I am very resentful and the worst one. The worst runner of all the cops was a Mexican. He was a Mexican I guess he was trying to

01:14:37.080 - 01:14:49.630

show his fellow police officers that he was like one of them, you know, but he was very abusive. I, I, you know, I was thinking maybe my brother will join the police boys and read up with him

01:14:49.630 - 01:14:58.900

and just two cops going at it who could, who could, you know. But uh that never happened. Yeah, but he was very abusive.

01:15:01.070 - 01:15:13.200

So what was that that transition to Cypress Park like? When, when we started like. People started moving out, you had a a a a. A house that was empty.

01:15:13.900 - 01:15:24.100

People would go in there, take whatever they could use for themselves, either break the windows. We used to use it, throw rocks at the windows and, and uh you know, one by one it came

01:15:24.100 - 01:15:34.930

up, we became really isolated, you know, uh, and people leaving and, and. And that cannot up the post stone. OK.

01:15:36.210 - 01:15:54.240

Yeah, we had 3 apostle store on the main street, and at the end it was only 1 the other church closes down and the families moved out of here. It's OK, they came out.

01:15:55.590 - 01:16:05.670

Then it then it was, it was different what with that, you know, because we're. So they like to work at Bruce's house, especially at night.

01:16:09.010 - 01:16:24.690

And so and then and then you had all those girls stories that people would tell you and So you said you were that you were the only Mexican family initially supposed to tea the cypress virus.

01:16:25.040 - 01:16:30.970

Were you the only one in the street or in the tea right now? We were the only one in that block, on the block.

01:16:31.250 - 01:16:40.360

We were the only ones in that block. And the block in front of us, we, I know we were the only ones cause people used to come out and stare at me when I was walking the

01:16:40.360 - 01:16:50.390

screen, you know, they wait to see him looking through the window and you. But it changed, and now it's It's all Latino, all 99% Latino, man.

01:16:52.230 - 01:17:00.270

Did you live there during that transition to it becoming more Latino? In in Cypress Park? Oh yeah, yeah, I saw, I saw that transition.

01:17:00.970 - 01:17:12.020

My kids grew up there. My, my, my poor kids grew up there. So you ended up, you also live there, or you, yeah, my, uh, the house, the my my house is

01:17:12.020 - 01:17:21.400

in Cypress Park. That's where my, my son. I have my, I have my son that has a house in Cypress Park and then one over here in

01:17:21.400 - 01:17:34.910

uh Mission Park in Mission Valley in Proptown. I have one that lives there and then one lives in, in, in, in Eagle Rock. She So when did you start thinking about, I know

01:17:34.910 - 01:17:43.760

you were barely going into high school and you were called out a child as your bully, so. When did you start thinking about what you wanted to do when you up?

01:17:44.560 - 01:17:55.780

Or did you, did that change when I was in high school, I wanted to be a was my. Everything I had done before as a kid and growing, uh, it was had to do with cars.

01:17:57.270 - 01:18:10.600

Everything had to do with cars and I went to school at Lincoln for auto mechanics. I was there for 3 years and, and, and, uh, I was very, very good at it and, uh.

01:18:11.740 - 01:18:23.430

But after being uh. Working on cars there for 3 years. I didn't get out of my hands to be during. I died in Gilbert Lee.

01:18:24.080 - 01:18:39.180

Hey, sorry, that's DD but is that true. That's a little distance of bus like like you at. But I didn't, I didn't, uh, and then my girlfriend was my wife, she was always complaining about my fingernail

01:18:39.180 - 01:18:46.990

will be dirty. Well, I said, like, it's hard to keep them clean, you know, I mean you brush them or whatever, you still can't get me, man, so, so I, I gave

01:18:46.990 - 01:18:58.590

up on being an, uh, an auto mechanic, which I shouldn't, I shouldn't. Because when I'm one of my friends that uh. That I, that I, it's, I'm still in in communication

01:18:58.590 - 01:19:04.500

with that lived here too and we went to high school. We were an auto shop together. And he kept going.

01:19:04.660 - 01:19:10.940

They kept going. He went into the service and he went and they put him in the motor pool. He never had to go to Vietnam or anything.

01:19:11.020 - 01:19:21.420

They put him in a motor pool to send him to Alaska so he didn't have to go by. When he came back, he got a job with the police department in their motor pool, and she rose to,

01:19:21.540 - 01:19:30.750

to be the chief. That the, the main guy at the in the in the In the in the police department and their motor career you know, so he, he has a, you know,

01:19:30.830 - 01:19:41.650

he had a real good job. He has really great benefits. He's retired now and so he did very well for himself, but At the time when we were both uh.

01:19:42.990 - 01:19:56.150

Uh, going to school, going to high school, he was, uh, his, he was, uh, his mother was a single parent, so. They offered me the job because uh the, the, the,

01:19:56.180 - 01:20:08.210

the teacher in, in, in auto shop, uh, um, a mechanic's place, an auto shop down the street in Lincolnheiser looking for an apprentice to do, um, to, to work in the shop, and, and he called both of us

01:20:08.210 - 01:20:18.330

and and he told us that he had, he had one form physician open. And uh He told me that he was gonna give it to him even though I was the only one

01:20:18.330 - 01:20:29.490

that was allowed to work in his own personal car. He was gonna give it to him and then he explained to me why that he, he was more needy than I was and besides, I had a girlfriend and

01:20:29.490 - 01:20:37.980

he didn't, and he knew that I wasn't gonna be dependable because I'm a girlfriend. And he was right. He was right.

01:20:39.080 - 01:20:52.930

So you meet your girlfriend then why my girlfriend, I, I met her, uh, at Nightingale. At Nightingale, uh, junior high school, uh. We're 3 years apart, so I was out of there

01:20:52.930 - 01:21:00.730

when I met her. I was, uh, I was making a left turn when, uh, a friend and, and I were together, a friend of mine and I were together, and I was making

01:21:00.730 - 01:21:13.480

a left turn on Cyprus for Pegueroa to go home, and, and she was on the, on the little, little bank that school has, her and another friend. So my, my friend says, Hey, stop, stop.

01:21:13.530 - 01:21:19.980

Let's see if we can pick him up and he'll get in the car. And we started talking to him and before he knew it, they, they were in the car.

01:21:21.840 - 01:21:31.990

Well, we went and drove around, we got to know you and we talked to each other. So we asked them if we could. Hey, we could uh see him on Sunday, you know,

01:21:32.150 - 01:21:40.500

so we did, you know, and then from there it just kept going. She was a She was in the last year of school.

01:21:41.570 - 01:21:51.740

At Nightingale, and I was a senior at Lincoln, so we were 3 years apart, you know, but she was very, very growing for her, you know. And, and I used to go.

01:21:52.280 - 01:22:03.490

I asked her mother permission if I could get, uh, pick her up from school every, every day. And also So I did. I started going to, to, to, to her school and

01:22:03.490 - 01:22:12.200

make pull on the long side. She get in and take off, and one time my teacher saw Idicted on the car. So back before that time up back out of home,

01:22:12.330 - 01:22:22.120

he had called her mother to tell her that she was aware that some, um, guy with a car was picking up. Uh, she told me that or I get Super Bowl,

01:22:23.700 - 01:22:35.620

so and that was never bothered that they never bothered me about that and uh, but she was the one in it had a senior, a senior come for her, you know, and then, and, and then she used to

01:22:35.620 - 01:22:46.940

wear my, my senior sweater, my, my senior, she, uh, she, she took it from me one time, and she used to wear it to, to school, you know, that, my senior sweater, so, and then.

01:22:47.770 - 01:23:01.800

So 2 or 3 years later, we were married. And her family is from Cypressburg. Her, she's from Cypressco or no, she was from, uh, she was from Porna Alpine where Chinatown is at, but

01:23:01.800 - 01:23:11.560

she had already moved, uh, uh, let's see, on North Broadway. She lived on North Broadway next to Cathedral or Cathedral in the Juans right there, but she, she was born

01:23:11.560 - 01:23:25.870

and, and raised over in Alan where Alpha is at. That's where she, her family were they come from there. This is 59 years. 59 years.

01:23:27.690 - 01:23:39.780

So you went from thinking you were going to be an auto mechanic to then what happened to I started working in a sheet metal shop. Do she admit her, and then from there I went

01:23:39.880 - 01:23:52.650

to uh To another place over here in Glendale they used to make racks for items that were being chromed. They used to hang these items, like doorknobs and stuff like that on those racks and dip them in the

01:23:52.650 - 01:24:05.240

solution, and that's what I started. I worked there for about a year and then my brother was working for, uh, an office furniture company downtown. And uh they needed they needed a person and and

01:24:05.240 - 01:24:13.490

uh they asked me if I wanted to go work with them. And I really didn't. Didn't want to, you know, being a.

01:24:15.590 - 01:24:25.700

It was like delivering office furniture to offices and stuff like that, and I didn't see myself doing that, so I said, well, I'll be. I'll go maybe a little while and then I'll, I'll,

01:24:25.770 - 01:24:37.960

I'll look for something else and. I stood there for 28 years. Never once did they ever lay me off 28 years I, I, uh, I stood there.

01:24:38.920 - 01:24:47.550

I became the department manager, vice president, and so you know uh then. And, and then my brother that took me, I wound up being his boss.

01:24:47.630 - 01:24:54.510

That was very hard. I had two brothers there. They're both older than me and that where that was one of the hardest things ever to do in my

01:24:54.510 - 01:25:06.730

life is, is to, uh, to have to, you know. Tell him what to do or things are you know. Uh, that, that's what I did. That's, uh, and then after that, uh, the company sold.

01:25:06.770 - 01:25:16.060

I quit and, uh, I, I established my own business in the same field, but. But uh. That's what I do now.

01:25:17.000 - 01:25:25.090

I, uh, I restore old cars. You see those old, the pretty old cars around. I, I do that. Your your fingernails are very tiny.

01:25:25.930 - 01:25:37.830

I use, I use, uh, I use latex gloves now. But that's, that's why as a hobby I do that. I do that now. But since I got sick, I haven't been able to.

01:25:38.660 - 01:25:53.620

You know they I would like, I'd still do it. So she stared real icy, you know, you know I'm not that happy. And you start burning or realizing it.

01:25:54.340 - 01:26:06.640

I Oh, I do. But that taco city. I come with pictures to me. That was already to party, you know.

01:26:12.490 - 01:26:26.170

It's, uh, it, it, it didn't really hit him away, uh, we rule somethingia and I were at this church festival one time. He, he, he had, he had, we had started doing

01:26:26.170 - 01:26:40.000

these, uh, picnics right before we, we, him and I met right there and uh. But I don't know what happened. There was, uh, turmoil between the groups, you know, I

01:26:40.000 - 01:26:51.690

don't know, you know, what it, what it, what happened, but they broke up. They, they people speak for, uh. 8 years, around 7 8s and gas and and then

01:26:51.690 - 01:27:02.020

it stopped for 9 years and then Louis and I met at this church and you know by chance and and it started popping it because with a bunch of people.

01:27:03.380 - 01:27:19.110

To start, yeah, so that would be great. Yeah, I'm listening to it because it's out of this in our smack. Transpired from it, so you know when we started doing

01:27:19.110 - 01:27:29.400

this is when I started getting more involved in. You know, but I mean to do anything about it, you know, it wasn't for that. I, I, I didn't get fucking this to do, but

01:27:29.400 - 01:27:41.280

he did sit out to make plays for. I get it so we could get together here and have a great time, keep it. So.

01:27:43.030 - 01:27:58.980

He Talked about your mom. Do you, what do you, do you see certain, uh, ways that what happened is child is either impacted your, your parents or your brothers or you in the long

01:27:58.980 - 01:28:10.740

term or what the way you think about it did, it didn't impact. It didn't impact my, my, my, my father so much because he was my father was, uh, set in his

01:28:10.740 - 01:28:22.290

ways he was gonna be and that's it was gonna be. Right now. What where are you?

01:28:23.930 - 01:28:34.780

He stood the the the. The father of him to choose the lodge for the sun. And I guess he tried it with my little brother

01:28:34.780 - 01:28:43.150

like they work put up probably, you know, he had to you had to change this way. I start seeing things different the way it was working out.

01:28:44.810 - 01:28:58.480

Although I don't know why, why he would do that, he ran away from home when he was 13 years old and joined the revolution, you know, so. But after with Louis is when I started, uh, getting

01:28:58.480 - 01:29:10.600

more involved in the actual, you know, the, the way that people were treated and, uh, you know, they were pressured out of, out of it it came to the point where you, there was no negotiation for the price,

01:29:11.040 - 01:29:19.750

no negotiation at all. You, you took what they gave you where the marshals would come. Throw your belongings out and bulldoze the house and that's

01:29:19.750 - 01:29:25.670

it. That was, you know, that's why those things reminded me of, of the Nazi era in Germany. You, you had no alternative.

01:29:25.750 - 01:29:35.180

There wasn't, you can hire a lawyer and go to court and say, you know, this isn't just spice. It's, it's not right. And no, and that's, that's how they, and then when

01:29:35.180 - 01:29:44.540

they did give the. The, the late to O'Malley, the erechidas were an obstacle, and then they didn't put up with them no more. Before they were, they didn't bother nobody.

01:29:44.620 - 01:29:56.260

They were there by themselves, so you know, but then they, uh, it became an obstacle because O'Malley went to start, you know, building his stadium, and that's when they finally just came and bulldozed the house and dragged him

01:29:56.260 - 01:30:11.740

out, you know. But until then, you know. I learned a lot from Louis. Him and I, him and I didn't socialize a lot,

01:30:11.900 - 01:30:22.900

you know, because, uh, we lived in different parts of the city, and, uh, but we always remained good friends. Very fact of that, the day, that day that he passed, I didn't know he was with me, you know,

01:30:22.970 - 01:30:28.210

I'm sure he didn't either, but I went to see him. I hadn't seen him for a while. I went to the hospital to see him, and then,

01:30:28.940 - 01:30:35.420

and then I got the call at night that he had passed. If I said, God, I'm glad that I went to see him and talked to him, uh.

01:30:38.480 - 01:30:49.280

But he was one of a kind. He really was. For the born leader. Very ill tempered that he was a born need.

01:30:52.200 - 01:31:02.200

We used to get in some good good arguments, you know. He should have been a politician, really. Well, he tried, you know, but I mean he was

01:31:02.200 - 01:31:10.920

a field day, but he brought up Castlemania, yeah. I used to tell me, you know what they ought to do with tall children. This don't put in the thing, because, oh, I'd rather

01:31:10.920 - 01:31:11.960

just posit auntie.